MANILA - Government officials have placed Eastern Samar under a state of calamity after tropical depression Urduja (international name: KaiTak) inundated several villages and left 2 people dead in the province.

Urduja swamped large swaths of the Visayas over the weekend, killing 31 people nationwide and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.

• Death toll from Urduja rises to 31

Among the fatalities were a fisherman and a 4-year-old child in Eastern Samar, one of the 6 areas where the slow-moving typhoon hit land.

• 'Urduja' makes landfall in Eastern Samar

Seven others remain missing while 20 were injured in the province. Some 19,000 families meanwhile were in evacuation centers, local officials said.

A state of calamity means local officials can tap emergency funds for the evacuees and impose a price freeze on basic commodities.

Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar and Northern Cebu have also declared a state of calamity.

Urduja is set to leave the Philippine area of responsibility, but a brewing storm off Mindanao threatens to brings rains in the archipelago just days before Christmas, state weather bureau PAGASA said.

• LPA seen to strengthen as 'Urduja' moves away

With a report from Geron Ponferrada, ABS-CBN News