THICK mud and unceasing rain are complicating retrieval efforts for bodies buried in a landslide triggered by Typhoon “Agaton” in a town in Leyte.

Searchers were also combing the coastline of Pilar village in Abuyog town after some bodies were swept kilometers away by ocean currents.

More than 100 remained missing, and Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Traya told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) there was little hope of finding anyone else alive.

“This will not end soon; it could go on for days,” Traya warned.

The death toll from landslides and flooding unleashed by Agaton rose to 148 on Thursday, official figures showed, as more bodies were found in mud-caked villages.

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 Scores of people are still missing and feared dead after the strongest storm to strike the country this year dumped heavy rain over several days, forcing tens of thousands into evacuation centers.

In Leyte — the worst affected by the storm — devastating landslides smashed farming and fishing communities, wiping out houses and transforming the landscape.

The disaster-prone region is regularly ravaged by storms — including a direct hit from Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013 — with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

Emergency personnel in Abuyog have retrieved dozens of bodies from Pilar.

  • ‘Odette’ death toll rises to 406

At least 42 people died in landslides that hit three villages in the municipality, police said. Another person drowned.

Most of those deaths were in Pilar, with at least 28 bodies brought by boat to a sandy lot near the municipal government building after roads leading to the settlement were cut off by landslides.

Many of those who died had hiked to higher ground to avoid flash floods, villagers told AFP.

Another 101 people were killed and dozens injured in vegetable, rice and coconut-growing villages around Baybay City at the weekend, local authorities said. At least 103 are still missing.

  • Death toll from ‘Agaton’ hits 148, damage nears P200M

The hardest hit was Kantagnos, where 42 people died and 93 have not been found.

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In the nearby village of Bunga, 17 people perished when sodden soil shot down a hill and slammed into the riverside community. Only a few rooftops are visible in the mud, which has started to smell of rotting flesh.

Three people also drowned on the main southern island of Mindanao, and one person died in the central province of Iloilo, the national disaster agency said in its latest update.

  • ‘Agaton’ damage hits P136 million

Another three deaths previously reported in the province of Negros Oriental were dropped from the tally after they were found to be unrelated to the storm.

The agricultural and infrastructure damage from Agaton is approaching P200 million, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Friday.

Crop losses in the Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and parts of Mindanao were estimated at P186,632,976.

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Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P6,950,000 in Western and Central Visayas and parts of Mindanao.

The NDRRMC placed the death toll at 137, with 128 deaths alone reported in Eastern Visayas.

Western Visayas recorded six deaths and Davao Region three.

Fifteen areas have declared a state of calamity, including Sara and Lemery towns in Iloilo, Cateel town in Davao Oriental, Trento town in Agusan del Sur, and the entire province of Davao de Oro.

President Rodrigo Duterte was scheduled to visit the stricken areas beginning Friday, acting Palace spokesman Martin Andanar.

Reacting to the deadly landslides in Abuyog, Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, said there should be “long term plans” for people to live in safe areas and not in disaster-prone zones such as near mountains or oceans.

“We need to become smarter, because there are a lot of faults and there are a lot of people living on the side of the mountains, so when a landslide strikes, a lot of people die,” Gordon said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday.

He said there are many areas in the Philippines, especially along its eastern coastline, that are prone to landslides, yet people still live in these areas.

The PRC has deployed 108 volunteers and staff in affected areas, providing emergency medical services, drinking water and hot meals, and psychosocial first aid, Gordon said.

Agaton struck four months after Super Typhoon “Odette” devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.