Super Typhoon Rai death toll rises to 75 in Philippines, according to local reports

There was no publicly available consolidated casualty count as of midday Sunday. On Saturday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said at least 31 people were reported killed, adding that it was still validating 27 of the deaths. The government’s primary disaster-response agency said more than 370,000 people were affected by the typhoon.

The disaster agency’s spokesman, Mark Cashean Timbal, told The Washington Post that casualty reports were still coming in from local units, “so the count may still change.” After the storm felled trees and power lines, communication to many areas was not established until Saturday. Other areas remained out of reach.

Across the central and southern Philippines, video of the devastation emerged. On social media, Filipinos frantically called for rescue, donations and assistance in finding relatives.

More than 300,000 people have been displaced, the disaster agency reported, possibly leaving thousands without homes ahead of Christmas.

People were trapped on rooftops as waters quickly rose. In parts of the central and western Visayas regions, Philippine Coast Guard rescuers in orange life jackets guided people from roofs to evacuation boats.

In Cagayan de Oro, one resident’s performance on a piano in a knee-deep flood to the sound of rain went viral on social media. “Probably my last time playing this piano before it gets junked,” wrote Niel Jon Salcedo. Local media later reported he fled to safer ground.

He played an excerpt from “River Flows in You” by the South Korean pianist Yiruma, in an image that drew parallels with musicians playing as the Titanic went down.

Photos and videos out of Siargao show its airport ceiling collapsed and farmlands flooded over. “Devastation everywhere … Roads still being cleared of electric lines and posts that toppled down, and lines are long at gas & water refilling stations,” tweeted Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo during a visit to Cebu.

The Philippines is no stranger to typhoons. The most devastating in recent years included Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which left an official count of around 6,000 dead. Climate change had raised fears of major storms becoming more frequent.

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