Houses in Bais city of the Philippines are destroyed by Typhoon Rai. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) –💟 The Philippine death toll fromTyphoon Rai has crossed the 400 mark, the disaster agency said on December 31.
Officials in some hard-hit provinces appealed for moresupplies of food, water and shelter materials about two weeks after the stormstruck. Rai was the 15th and deadliest typhoon to hit the SoutheastAsian nation this year. Reported deaths had reached 405, mostly due to drowning,fallen trees and landslides, said Ricardo Jalad, chief of the national disasteragency. As many as 82 people were missing and 1,147 injured. More than 530,000 houses were damaged, a third of which weretotally wrecked, while damage to infrastructure and agriculture was estimatedat 23.4 billion PHP (459 million USD). The typhoon affected nearly 4.5 million people, includingabout 500,000 sheltering in evacuation centres, the Philippine government datashowed. It made landfall on December 16, and left a trail of destructionin the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Surigao del Norte, including the holidayisland of Siargao, and the Dinagat Islands. In central Philippine provinces, disaster and governmentofficials have been grappling with inadequate relief supplies for thousands ofresidents still without power and water. Rai's swath of destruction revived memories of typhoonHaiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, which killed6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013./.
Rescue activities in areas affected by typhoon Rai in the Philippines are facing difficulties due to transport disruption and the running out of necessities.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of calamity in several regions to speed up relief efforts for victims of typhoon Rai that ravaged central and southern Philippines last week.
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths on December 23 announced a 12-million-USD rapid response allocation from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support the response to Typhoon Rai in the Philippines.
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Two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
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The World Bank will provide a 2.1 billion USD financing package for Indonesia, focusing oncreating jobs, stimulating economic growth, and enhancing access to clean energy across the country.
Houses in Bais city of the Philippines are destroyed by Typhoon Rai. (Photo: AFP/VNA) 
