‘Usman’ kills 24 in Bicol, Eastern Visayas
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 16:01:18 +0000
RESIDENTS collect belongings from their damaged home in a landslide-hit community in Bulan, Sorsogon. (EPA-EFE)
At least 24 people were reported to have died due to flashflood and landslides triggered by the heavy downpour spawned by tropical depression “Usman” in Bicol and Eastern Visayas over the weekend.
Bicol has the most number of fatalities with 18, mostly due to landslides and drowning. At least 12 others are still missing as of press time yesterday in Albay and Sorsogon.
Chief Supt. Arnel Escobal, director of the Bicol police, said the latest fatalities are two residents in Tiwi, Albay who died due to a landslide that hit a residential area in Barangay Sugod at around 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Seven residents were reported missing while five others were rescued alive, according to Escobal.
Earlier, three members of a family were also buried in a landslide in Legazpi City while two more were reported dead in Sorsogon City, two in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur; and one from Bulan, Sorsogon.
Another person was reported dead due to drowning in Bulan, three in Claveria, Masbate, and three more in Mobo and Uson also in Masbate.
A resident died after being hit by a tree that was toppled by strong winds in Mobo.
In Eastern Visayas, three people died due to landslide in Lope de Vega, Northern Samar while three others died of drowning: two in Palanas and another one in Lope de Vega.
“There are still three people reported missing in Victoria, Northern Samar who were reported to have fallen from a banca,” said Henry Losanes, director of the Eastern Visayas Office of Civil Defense.
Losanes said Lope de Vega was the worst hit by Usman, with almost the entire town proper submerged in massive flooding due to heavy rains in the past days.
“Some of the affected residents took shelter at the second story of their house while those who live in bungalow house, they took shelter at their roof,” said Losanes.
Losanes said that the towns of San Roque, Catarman, Las Navas, and Catubig were also severely affected.
In Bicol, more than 90,000 people were affected by the flooding. Twenty-two thousand, three-hundred one sought refuge in evacuation centers.
Search and rescue missions have been launched for the missing while rescue teams, mostly from the uniformed service, were deployed to assist in relief distribution missions.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported yesterday that 1,274 families or 4,906 persons in 36 barangays in Regions 5 and 8 were affected by Usman.
Seventy-eight areas were reported flooded in Bicol and Eastern Visayas. Flooding in three areas has subsided.
Twenty road sections in Regions 5 and 8 were reported affected by the weather disturbance.
Fifty-eight areas in Region 4-A and 4-B, and Bicol Region, experienced power interruption.
The NDRRMC said 36 domestic flights were cancelled while 3,678 passengers, 356 rolling cargoes, 28 vessels, and seven motor bancas were stranded due to bad weather.
It said 1,169 families or 2,567 persons were preemptively evacuated in 29 barangays in Eastern Visayas.
The low pressure area which was formerly Usman was over the West Philippine Sea but the weather disturbance, along with the tail-end of a cold front, will continue to bring rains over some areas in Luzon today, New Year’s Eve.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration estimated the location of the LPA at 340 kilometers west-southwest of Puerto Princesa City.
PAGASA said the LPA and the tail-end of a cold front will persist, bringing moderate to occasional heavy rains over Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Masbate, Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, northern part of Palawan, and Calamian and Cuyo Islands.
Light to moderate rains will prevail over Metro Manila, Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, the rest of Palawan, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.
PAGASA warned residents, especially those living near river channels, low-lying areas, and mountainous areas, to take extra precaution against possible flooding and landslides.
The LPA will be outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility today, but its trough or extension will bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Palawan, PAGASA said.
It will also enhance the northeast monsoon or “amihan” over Luzon, bringing cloudy skies with light rains over Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Aurora, and Quezon. (Aaron Recuenco, Francis Wakefield, and Ellalyn V. Ruiz)