Cars pass by a toppled electrical post due to Typhoon Rai in Surigao city, Surigao del Norte, southern Philippines as power supply remain down on Sunday Dec. 19, 2021. (Photo: AP)

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surged to 375 on Monday, the national police said, as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food.

Another 500 were injured and 56 were missing in the latest disaster to hit the archipelago, the police tally showed.