Storm blows away from northern Philippines leaving 65 dead but forecasters warn it may do a U-turn

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 65 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to save thousands of terrified people, who were trapped, some on their roofs.

But the onslaught may not be over: State forecasters raised the rare possibility that the storm — the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year — could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 33 people were killed mostly in landslides set off by Trami in Batangas province south of Manila. That brought the overall death toll from the storm to at least 65.

Eleven other villagers remain missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood beside a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.

With the use of a backhoe and shovels, police scrambled to search into 10 feet (3 meters) of mud, rocks and debris and found a part of a head and foot that apparently were those of the missing woman and child.

“He’s simply devastated,” Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman, whose wife and child were buried in the landslide that happened Thursday afternoon amid torrential rains while he was away tending to fish cages in a lake.

“He’s in shock and couldn’t speak and we’re only asking him to point to where their bedroom was located so we can dig in that part,” Malinao said.

The storm was last tracked at dawn blowing 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the coastal town of Bacnotan in northern La Union province with sustained winds of up to 95 kilometers (59 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 115 kph (78 mph). It was moving northwest at 25 kph (15 mph) toward Vietnam, which was forecast to be lashed by Trami starting on Sunday if it stays on course.

The Philippine weather agency, however, said it's possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could force the storm to turn back toward the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos, sounding exasperated, inquired about that prospect in an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and disaster-response officials Friday about the response to the widespread devastation.

"What is the forecast for that? Is it possible it would return?” Marcos asked.

A government forecaster told him Trami could turn toward the western Philippines early next week, but its more likely to blow away from the Philippines again without making landfall.

"It doesn’t have to make landfall for the damage to occur,” Marcos said, citing the continuing downpours set off by Trami in the Philippines.

Marcos also cited another brewing storm in the Pacific Ocean that could again threaten the country.

"Oh God, it is what it is. We just have to deal with it,” Marcos said.

State forecaster Jofren Habaluyas told the AP that Trami's possible U-turn has drawn interest among government weather experts in Asia, including those from Japan, which has been providing information to the Philippines to help track the storm.

The 65 storm deaths included 26 villagers who died in floodwaters and landslides in hard-hit Bicol, an agricultural region and tourism destination southeast of Manila that is popular for Mayon, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes that has a near-perfect cone.

Although Trami did not strengthen into a typhoon, it dumped unusually heavy rains in some regions, including some that saw one to two months’ worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, inundating communities with flash floods.

Officials in Naga city, where 11 people died by drowning, and the outlying provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay pleaded for more rescue boats at the height of the onslaught to reach people trapped on the upper floors of their homes or on their roofs as floodwaters rose.

In the foothills of Mayon volcano in Albay province, mud and other debris cascaded toward nearby towns as the storm hit, engulfing houses and cars in black-colored mudflows.

More than 2.6 million people were affected by the deluge, with nearly 320,000 people fleeing into evacuation centers or relatives' homes, disaster-mitigation officials said.

The government shut down schools and government offices on the main northern island of Luzon. Inter-island ferry services were also suspended, stranding thousands.

In Vietnam, state forecasters warned of heavy rains in the central region. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered coastal provinces to stay vigilant, closely monitor Trami’s course and brace for contingencies.

Last month, Typhoon Yagi battered Vietnam, killing 323 people and causing extensive damage valued at $3.3 billion, according to a Vietnamese government report.

Each year, about 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and flattened entire villages.

Dinh reported from Hanoi, Vietnam.

Residents walk along the flooded village caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A resident crosses flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers ride a boat around the flooded town of Nabua, Camarines Sur, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

A man navigates flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A resident takes pictures of floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami from her home on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A resident rides his bike as he crosses flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A resident carries belongings as he crosses flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Residents stay beside a car partially buried by volcanic mud that had flowed down from Mayon volcano after heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Trami hit Guinobatan town, Albay province, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, residents alight a rubber boat after being ferried to safer grounds in Batangas province, Philippines on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

Residents use a boat to cross flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A resident navigates flooded streets caused by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Cainta, Rizal province, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A submerged vehicle is seen in floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, as it continues to inundate Libon town, Albay province, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents carry their pig to safer grounds after floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, continue to inundate Libon town, Albay province, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

In this handout photo provided by the 9th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, troopers from the 9th Infantry "Spear" Division (9ID) and a contingent from the Australian Army distribute food packs to evacuees affected by Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, at Naga city, Camarines Sur province, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. (9th Infantry Division, Philippine Army via AP)

A resident walks along floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, as it continues to inundate Libon town, Albay province, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents use a boat to recover items from their flooded homes caused by Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, as it continues to inundate Libon town, Albay province, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

A man crosses a flooded rice field during rains on Thursday Oct. 24, 2024 after Tropical Storm Trami, locally named Kristine, dumped heavy rains at Libon town, Albay province, Philippines. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — King Charles III told a summit of Commonwealth countries in Samoa on Friday that the past could not be changed as he indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The British monarch told leaders in Apia that he understood “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate." But Charles stopped short of mentioning financial reparations that some leaders at the event have urged, and instead exhorted them to find the “right language” and an understanding of history “to guide us towards making the right choices in future where inequality exists."

“None of us can change the past but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right the inequalities that endure," said Charles, who is attending his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, as Britain's head of state.

His remarks at the summit's opening ceremony were an acknowledgement of the strength of feeling on the issue in countries that Britain once colonized.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also struck an emollient tone, after earlier insisting that the meeting should avoid becoming mired in the past and “very, very long endless discussions about reparations.”

Starmer said at the summit that it was important to acknowledge a “hard” shared history, and that he understood the “strength of feeling here and that there are some calls to face up to the harms and injustices of the past through reparatory justice.”

Flanked by leaders from Uganda and Tanzania, Starmer said he wanted to work “together to make sure the future is not in the shadow of the past," and promised to host a U.K.-Caribbean forum next year with leaders of the nations most impacted by slavery’s legacy.

Britain's handling of its involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seen by many observers as a litmus test for the Commonwealth's adaptation to a modern-day world. Other European nations and some British institutions have started to own up to their role in the trade.

“I think the time has come for this to be taken seriously,” said Jacqueline McKenzie, a partner at London law firm Leigh Day. “Nobody expects people to pay every single penny for what happened. But I think there needs to be negotiations."

Such a policy would be costly and divisive at home, McKenzie said.

The U.K. has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, in which millions of African citizens were kidnapped and transported to plantations in the Caribbean and Americas over several centuries, enriching many individuals and companies. Studies estimate Britain would owe between hundreds of millions and trillions of dollars in compensation to descendants of slaves.

The Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis on Thursday said he wanted a “frank” discussion with Starmer about the matter and would seek mention of the reparations issue in the leaders' final statement at the event. All three candidates to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General — from Gambia, Ghana and Lesotho — have endorsed policies of reparatory justice for slavery.

Starmer said Thursday in remarks to reporters that the matter would not be on the summit’s agenda. But Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told The Associated Press in an interview that leaders “will speak about absolutely anything they want to speak about" at an all-day private meeting scheduled for Saturday.

King Charles said in Friday's speech that nothing would right inequality “more decisively than to champion the principle that our Commonwealth is one of genuine opportunity for all.” The monarch urged leaders to "choose within our Commonwealth family the language of community and respect, and reject the language of division.”

He has expressed “sorrow” over slavery at a CHOGM summit before, in 2022, and last year endorsed a probe into the monarchy’s ties to the industry.

Charles — who is battling cancer — and his wife, Queen Camilla, will return to Britain after visiting Samoa and Australia, where his presence prompted a lawmaker's protest over his country's colonial legacy.

He acknowledged Friday that the Commonwealth had mattered “a great deal” to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, who was seen as a unifying figure among the group's disparate and divergent states.

The row over reparations threatened to overshadow a summit that Pacific leaders — and the Commonwealth secretariat — hoped would focus squarely on the ruinous effects of climate change.

“We are well past believing it is a problem for the future since it is already undermining the development we have long fought for,” the king said Friday. “This year alone we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihood and human rights are at-risk across the Commonwealth.”

Charles offered “every encouragement for action with unequivocal determination to arrest rising temperatures” by cutting emissions, building resilience, and conserving and restoring nature on land and at sea, he said.

Samoa is the first Pacific Island nation to host the event, and Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa said in a speech Friday that it was “a great opportunity for all to experience our lived reality, especially with climate change," which was “the greatest threat to the survival and security of our Pacific people."

Two dozen small island nations are among the Commonwealth grouping's 56 member states, among them the world’s most imperiled by rising seas. Her remarks came as the United Nations released a stark new report warning that the world was on pace for significantly more warming than expected without immediate climate action.

The population of the member nations of the 75-year-old Commonwealth organization totals 2.7 billion people.

Britain's King Charles III delivers a speech during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/William West, Pool)

The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer talk during the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool)

Britain's King Charles III, right, shakes hands with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a reception the King is hosting for for heads of government and spouses/partners attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Samoa CHOGM 2024/Pool Photo via AP)

CHOGM Secretary General Patricia Scotland, right, talks to Britain's King Charles III, center, during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/William West, Pool)

Britain's King Charles III, center, watches as dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/William West, Pool)

Britain's King Charles and CHOGM Secretary General Patricia Scotland talk during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles, centre, stands with delegates during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles stands with the delegates for a family photo during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Prime Minister of the Bahamas Philip Davis arrives for the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese react during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles addresses the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles and CHOGM Secretary General Patricia Scotland talk during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles watches as dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles and Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, left, watch dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles watches dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)

Britain's King Charles and Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, left, talk during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft/Pool)