The death toll from a storm that caused landslides and floods across the southern Philippines has climbed to 240 with scores of others still missing, officials said on Monday. Tropical Storm Tembin on Friday struck the country’s main southern island of Mindanao, which often escapes the 20 or so storms that batter the rest of the archipelago nation each year, South China Morning Post reported. Rescuers are still looking for 107 people in the three areas. Many were feared killed by mudslides and flash floods that buried or swept away hundreds of houses last weekend. Civil defense officials said some 13,000 Mindanao families–at least 52,000 people–remained in evacuation camps on Christmas Day, many with few if any possessions left. Tembin swept out into the South China Sea early Sunday, with weather forecasters warning it would hit southern Vietnam later Monday.
