A total of 25 people died due to the combined effects of tropical cyclones “Crising”, “Dante”, “Emong”, and the southwest monsoon (habagat) which have been felt only since last week as a transport aircraft from the United States is arriving in the country to assist in the humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations, authorities reported Friday, July 25.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said nine of the fatalities were recorded in the National Capital Region (NCR) which was affected by widespread flooding.

Three deaths were also recorded in each of the following regions: Calabarzon (Region 4A), Western Visayas (Region 6), Negros Island Region (NIR), and Northern Mindanao (Region 10). There was also one death apiece in Central Luzon (Region 3), Mimaropa (Region 4B), Davao (Region 11), and Caraga (Region 13).

Meanwhile, eight persons were missing while eight others were injured.

"Of the 25 reported deaths, three were confirmed to be related to the recent typhoons and the rest of 22 deaths are still being confirmed if the circumstances of their deaths are related to the typhoons," Office of Civil Defense (OCD) deputy spokesperson Diego Mariano said.

The confirmed fatalities were one person who got electrocuted in Meycauayan, Bulacan; and, as previously reported, two individuals who were struck by fallen debris in Mambajao, Camiguin and Mainit Surigao del Norte.

"The 22 fatalities that are under validation include victims of fallen debris, drowning, and there was one who died in a boat sinking incident," Mariano said.

A total of 4.6 million individuals or 1.3 million families were affected in 4,530 barangays across 17 regions, including 285,000 persons who were displaced. Of those displaced, more than 174,000 individuals or 50,000 families were sheltered in 1,226 evacuation centers while 111,000 others were staying in other areas.

"The hardest-hit areas were Region III because that's where the majority of the affected population is, which is around 2.2 million affected individuals," Mariano said.

"But as for Emong, during our briefing earlier, the hardest-hit was La Union and parts of Pangasinan," he added.

NDRRMC Chairman and Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. led a coordination meeting of the Inter-Agency Coordinating Cell (IACC) at the NDRRM Operations Center at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Friday morning as the OCD and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continued to reinforce their joint disaster response operations due to the overlapping threats from Dante and Emong, alongside intensified rains from habagat and the aftermath of Crising.

"Many government offices were damaged including the regional office of the OCD in Region 1, as well as offices of Philippine National Police and Philippine Coast Guard. There were a lot of fallen debris. Right now, we are also trying to access flooded areas via airlift operations since many road sections were damaged especially in Region 1," Mariano shared.

Maj. Joseph Richard Calma, deputy spokesperson of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), said a KC-135 aircraft from the United States is en route to Clark Air Base in Pampanga, bringing in HADR equipment.

“The aircraft is currently now in Japan and it is awaiting departure. We do not have yet the exact date or time when it will arrive here in the Philippines but what is important is support from the US is coming in,” Calma said.

Calma also noted that more than 40 PAF assets are on standby, including Sokol helicopters prepositioned in Clark and Black Hawk helicopters ready at Basa Air Base. Medium- and light-lift aircraft such as the C-295, Nomad, and NC-212i are also available for relief delivery and evacuations, especially in inaccessible areas.

“With the current weather, our aircraft, particularly helicopters, can still fly,” Calma said.

He explained that aircraft are used for rapid damage assessment, medical evacuations, and relief delivery upon request from local governments and the OCD.

Meanwhile, the PCG has rescued 10,292 individuals who were trapped in NCR, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and north western Luzon since July 21.

A total of 878 areas remained flooded, most of which were in Central Luzon with 642 and Ilocos Region with 130.

There were 84 cities and municipalities that have also declared a state of calamity. These include 42 areas in Central Luzon, 27 in Calabarzon, six in Ilocos Region, five in NCR, three in Western Visayas, and one in Mimaropa.