1 dead, 2 hurt as Frank rips Southern Tagalog
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 18:49:00 06/22/2008
Filed Under: Typhoon Frank, Disasters (general)
LILIW, Laguna, Philippines -- A 10-year-old boy, identified as Melvic Intino, was electrocuted in Nasugbu, Batangas, early Sunday morning, while two others were injured in General Trias, Cavite and Bauan, Batangas, as typhoon Frank (international codename: Fengshen) ripped through provinces in Southern Tagalog, sketchy reports from the Office of Civil Defense-Calabarzon said.
The worst hit province in the region was Quezon as a state of calamity was declared in the capital city of Lucena, said Vicente Tomazar, regional director of OCD-Calabarzon.
He said 22 of Quezon's 33 villages were affected by strong winds and flooding caused by the typhoon while less than a thousand people were evacuated in Lucena City.
Tomazar added that a storm surge occurred in the coastal areas of Infanta, Quezon at around 5 to 6 a.m. Sunday, which destroyed at least 100 houses.
Evacuees in the Calabarzon area sought shelter in barangay (village) halls and public schools.
Passengers were also stranded in three sea ports of Calabarzon. There were 600 passengers, 60 rolling cargos and 1 vessel stranded in Batangas Port while 120 Marinduque-bound passengers, 26 rolling cargoes and three vessels in Dalahican Port in Lucena City, 80 passengers in Real Port in Real, Quezon as of 10 a.m.
Lieutenant Commander Hostillo Cornelio, PCG-Quezon chief, said two cargo sea vessels and five fishing boats capsized in Cotta port in Lucena City.
No casualties were reported, according to Cornelio.
The OCD-Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) tallied 99 families or 492 evacuated at Itlogan, Batangas on Sunday morning.
In Lucena City, an estimated 812 families, most of them residing near river banks and coastal areas, were forced to evacuate their homes and sought shelters in public schools during the height of typhoon Frank's, according to report from the Lucena Social Workers and Development Office.
The CSWD report said at least 28 houses were destroyed and a hundred more were damaged.
No casualties were reported, based on records of the local social welfare office.
Lucena Mayor Ramon Talaga Jr., immediately dispatched teams from the City Social Welfare Development and local health offices to attend to the needs of evacuees.
In Laguna, the provincial police office said around 300 families moved into public schools and village halls Sunday morning, because of rising floodwaters while roads in Mabitac and Famy towns were impassable to light vehicles because of flooding.
National roads in Calamba were also flooded but still passable, said Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas, Laguna provincial police director.
Rojas said a landslide occurred at the national highway in Kalayaan, Laguna but no one was hurt.
He added that 12 families living along the riverbanks of San Juan River in Calamba City were evacuated to Central 1 Elementary School while riverside communities were afraid that the river would swell as Typhoon Frank intensified.
As of Sunday morning, all roads and bridges were still passable.
There was no report of casualties and damage to properties and agricultural products.
In San Pablo City, some 390 families were evacuated, 40 houses destroyed while an undetermined number of hectares of rice, crops were flooded and damaged, said Ramon Cambel, staff of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office in Laguna.
Cambel said 390 families or around 2,000 persons from seven Laguna towns -- Kalayaan, San Juan, Sta. Cruz, Paete, Bay, Calamba City and Pila -- had been evacuated since Saturday due to heavy flooding from overflowing river and rising waves of Laguna de Bay.
The towns of Sta. Maria, Mabitac, Siniloan and Famy were submerged in knee-deep waters.
Power lines were damaged sending the entire province in total darkness since midnight Saturday.
Cherry Cuenca of Meralco reported over the radio that power outages occurred in Laguna, Batangas, Quezon due to trippings in their powerlines.
Several churches, among them located in the towns of Pangil, Nagcarlan and San Pablo City were unable to celebrate 6 a.m. masses as floods entered church premises.
In Oriental Mindoro, no major damage was reported as the typhoon abruptly changed direction Saturday night and veered to the right and instead hit Marinduque and Quezon rather than Mindoro, said Oriental Mindoro Governor Arnan Panaligan.
In Calapan City, City Disaster Coordinating Council Chair Mayor Doy Leachon said that 197 families were assisted by the City Public Safety Department and evacuated to Divine Word College of Calapan High School, Catholic Center Hall in the Cathedral and Lazareto Church Saturday evening but they returned to their houses Sunday morning.
In the Bicol Region, around 1,316 passengers remained stranded across ports, with the Camarines Norte province still placed under storm signal number two and with Albay and Camarines Sur provinces still under signal number one as of Sunday noon due to Typhoon "Frank."
Records from the Bicol Office of the Civil Defense showed that as of Sunday morning, around 70 passengers were still stranded at the Virac port, 501 at Pilar, 348 at Tabaco, 332 at Masbate, 48 at Bulan, 15 at Sabang, 15 at Pasacao and 50 at the Bulan port.
Around 11 small cars, three trucks and five small sea vessels were also stranded across the Pilar, Tabaco and Masbate ports.
Reports from Niña Catherine Calleja, Romulo Ponte, Madonna Virola and Jaymee T. Gamil, Delfin Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon
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