Residents of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are trying to come to terms with the death and destruction caused by Typhoon Bopha. FULL STORY| PHOTOS
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Devastation in a Philippine valley where typhoons aren't expected
December 6, 2012 -- Updated 1448 GMT (2248 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: At least 331 people have died as a result of Typhoon Bopha, officials say
- Some residents in the remote area didn't hear warnings, others ignored them
- Survivors are in desperate need of water, food and shelter, a relief worker says
- A quarter of a million people are homeless after the storm ripped across the country
Her mother, Rosal, picks among the jumble of debris where her kitchen used to be. The broken appliances strewn across the floor are the only indication that this was where she would cook for her five children.
And they are some of the more fortunate ones.
Up and down the poor, remote Compostela Valley region on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, families like the Bucanis are trying to come to terms with what hit them.
Thousands of flimsy houses have been ripped to shreds. Scores of people are dead. Hundreds more are still missing, swept away in flash floods that roared down from the hills.
Residents queue up to receive relief goods from the government in the town of New Bataan, Philippines, on Thursday, December 6. Typhoon Bopha, the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the island in decades, left scores of people dead and hundreds more missing, swept away in flash floods that roared down from the hills. Thousands of flimsy houses have been ripped to shreds.
A resident cuts branches of a toppled tree in Montevista, Philippines, on December 6. It fell onto his house at the height of Typhoon Bopha.
A resident cuts branches of a toppled tree in Montevista, Philippines, on December 6. It fell onto his house at the height of Typhoon Bopha.
Residents stand next to a vehicle washed up among debris along a river in New Bataan on December 6.
Residents stand next to a vehicle washed up among debris along a river in New Bataan on December 6.
A rescue worker carries an elderly resident across a surging river in New Bataan on December 6.
A rescue worker carries an elderly resident across a surging river in New Bataan on December 6.
Children retrieve a bicycle among boulders near destroyed houses in New Bataan on December 6.
Children retrieve a bicycle among boulders near destroyed houses in New Bataan on December 6.
Philippine soldiers patrol New Bataan, in the Compostela Valley, Philippines, as they look for flood survivors on Wednesday, December 5.
Philippine soldiers patrol New Bataan, in the Compostela Valley, Philippines, as they look for flood survivors on Wednesday, December 5.
A worker surveys destroyed banana trees at a plantation in Montevista, Compostela Valley, on December 5.
A worker surveys destroyed banana trees at a plantation in Montevista, Compostela Valley, on December 5.
A woman sorts out clothes and belongings in front of her damaged house in Montevista on December 5.
A woman sorts out clothes and belongings in front of her damaged house in Montevista on December 5.
Residents cross a road destroyed at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley province on December 5.
Residents cross a road destroyed at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley province on December 5.
These boulders cascaded into New Bataan township. This picture was taken December 5.
These boulders cascaded into New Bataan township. This picture was taken December 5.
Residents clean their sofa next to their damaged house in New Bataan township on December 5.
Residents clean their sofa next to their damaged house in New Bataan township on December 5.
Red Cross volunteers assist a rescued child in New Bataan on December 5.
Red Cross volunteers assist a rescued child in New Bataan on December 5.
Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by the storm in Cagayan de Oro City, on the southern island of Mindanao, on Tuesday, December 4.
Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by the storm in Cagayan de Oro City, on the southern island of Mindanao, on Tuesday, December 4.
Residents walk down a road covered in debris after the storm in New Bataan on December 5.
Residents walk down a road covered in debris after the storm in New Bataan on December 5.
Typhoon brings deadly floods to the Philippines
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Photos: Deadly typhoon hits the Philippines
Typhoon Bopha strikes Philippines
Philippines ravaged by floods
Residents seek comfort after Bopha
In some places, mudcaked corpses line the streets, covered with cloths and palm leaves. Distraught relatives wail and tug at one another's clothes.
The merciless force that tore apart lives in the valley and elsewhere in eastern Mindanao was Typhoon Bopha, known locally as "Pablo," the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the island in decades.
"I have Mindanao on my mind, especially the number of people missing," Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said Thursday. "I am hoping these people will be found safe and sound."
The president said he is saddened that some families will spend the holidays in evacuation centers because their homes were destroyed.
"Our target is not to lose any lives," he said. "My hope is to have all these families together for Christmas. My dream is to concentrate, to achieve this goal, and avoid any single Filipino from starving and suffering and have him achieve his lifelong goals."
Rosal Bucani, 48, who lives in the town of Montevista, said she had never experienced anything like it. She didn't hear the warnings to take refuge in evacuation centers.
Many of those who did failed to heed them. The area is sheltered from the worst of the weather by mountains, they figured. And besides, the big typhoons that slam into the Philippines every year never come this far south, especially not this late in the year.
But Bopha did. And it brought savage winds that uprooted entire banana plantations in low-lying areas, and relentless rain that unleashed torrents of rocks and mud down the mountainsides where shanty-dwelling miners dig for gold.
The epicenter of the devastation appears to have been in New Bataan, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Montevista and close to the steep mountains.
The flash floods hit it head-on Tuesday, washing away families huddled in their homes and soldiers stationed in a compound in the town.
Large parts of New Bataan and many of the people who lived there are now buried under mud, fallen trees and rubble, said Arnaldo Arcadio, an emergency response program manager for Catholic Relief Services, a humanitarian group.
"The mood is really gloomy," he said Thursday after visiting the town, where 90% to 95% of the houses are believed to have been destroyed or damaged.
At least 85 people from New Bataan have died, Philippine authorities say.
And with more than 340 people still unaccounted for in the town, the grim math of natural disasters suggests the death toll will rise further.
Residents who evaded death now lack food, shelter and, most of all, drinking water, since the nearest source is 5 kilometers away, according to Arcadio.
"They are just trying to survive," he said, noting that the knee-deep mud in many places made it difficult to get around, with several areas of the town completely inaccessible.
Aquino will visit New Bataan on Friday to assess the damage and oversee the distribution of relief goods, the official Philippine News Agency reported.
Rescue workers have been struggling to reach many of the worst affected areas in Compostela Valley and the neighboring Davao Oriental region. Landslides have blocked roads and knocked out power and communications.
Bopha raked across Mindanao and several other Philippine islands before moving off into the South China Sea.
In total, it has killed at least 331 people in the country and left about a quarter of a million homeless, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the federal emergency management agency. Three hundred and eighty people are still missing, the agency said Thursday.
It arrived just ahead of a sinister anniversary on Mindanao. A year ago, Tropical Storm Washi drenched northern areas of the island with heavy rain, setting off flash floods and landslides in the middle of the night that destroyed entire villages.
Washi, dubbed "Sendong" in the Philippines, killed more than 1,200 people and left painful memories in the hardest hit areas, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.
The approach this week of Bopha, a far more powerful storm than Washi, had residents fearing fresh devastation. Local authorities took preemptive action, relocating thousands of people to evacuation centers and setting up emergency supplies.
But in the end, northern Mindanao was spared the worst of Bopha's fury. It was the less prepared communities of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental, further south and east, that bore the brunt.
An ethnically mixed area, the Compostela Valley was inhabited by a multitude of tribes until the 20th century, when a logging boom brought waves of migrants from further north in the Philippines.
The timber trade, and later the mining industry, changed the geological and demographic landscape, stripping away the forests and driving many tribes into the hills.
The valley is also known for its rich, fertile plain, where rice, corn, bananas and coconuts are grown.
But on Thursday, the headline of the Philippine Star, a national newspaper, gave it a new, grim title: "Valley of the dead." COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
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