MANILA, Philippines -- The death toll from flashfloods and landslides in Eastern Visayas and the Bicol region rose to 33 Saturday, according to initial reports from the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Over 500,000 people have been reported affected, while damage to infrastructure and agriculture has been placed at over P900 million after eight days of unabated rains caused by the tail end of the cold front.

A state of calamity has been declared in the provinces of Albay and Eastern Samar and the towns of Buhi in Camarines Sur, Vinzons in Camarines Norte and Magallanes in Sorsogon.

Most of the fatalities were reported on the islands of Samar and Leyte.

Leticia Corillo, DSWD regional director, said that of the 17 reported casualties, 10 were from Eastern Samar while the others were from the rest of Samar and neighboring Leyte province.

At least three persons, all coastal residents, were reported missing, while at least 12 persons were reported injured, 10 of them from coastal Maydolong town.

In Bicol, 16 casualties were reported. The names are being withheld pending verification.

Corillo said Eastern Samar also had the highest number of affected families, estimated at 34,950 or 173,969 persons. In northern Samar, the welfare agency estimated 22,712 families or 101,852 persons were affected. Other areas in Samar had about 25,380 families or 137,237 persons affected and needing assistance.

In Leyte, 13,028 families or 65,974 individuals were affected, the DSWD report said. In Tacloban City, Corillo said they assisted 4,086 families or 16,633 persons who had to be evacuated from flooded low-lying areas.

According to the civil defense monitor, Camarines Sur reported the biggest agricultural damage, with more than P103 million in rice, corn, livestock and high-value crops lost.

Albay lost P23 million in rice and sea crops; Sorsogon, more than P1 million in rice and livestock.

Magallanes, Sorsogon, suffered the biggest losses in infrastructure, with P73.5 million worth of damage to waterworks systems, river control systems, roads, concrete fences and canals. As of Friday, Albay listed an estimated P177,500 in infrastructure damage.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, meanwhile, in its situational update yesterday, said most of the national roads in the Bicol region were passable.

In Albay, some sections of the roads from Manito to Legazpi City, Ligao City to Pio Duran, and Libon to Pantao remained impassable.

In Catanduanes, the road from Bato to Baras and Caramoran to San Andres and Pandan were hardly passable.

The road from Ariman to Casiguran in Sorsogon was still impassable yesterday due to three landslides. A section of the road from Juban to Magallanes was also damaged.

In some areas in Bicol, the Navy had to use rubber boats to rescue people trapped by floodwaters.

The weather bureau said a low pressure area and the tail end of a cold front in the country’s south had combined to bring unseasonal heavy rains across the islands over the past week. With reports from Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas; Jaymee T. Gamil, Inquirer Southern Luzon; AFP