LEGAZPI CITY – At least 80,000 people were moved out of their homes in what officials said was preemptive evacuation to keep them out of harm’s way as rains continued to raise flood levels and the likelihood of landslides in Albay.

Officials counted eight landslides in an aerial survey Friday. These landslides cut all access to Manito, Albay. At least 5,400 families were in dire need of help in the town, the officials said.

‘Mountain angry’

“It was as if the mountain was angry and tried to restore its original shape by filling in the roads with debris,” Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said after he joined the aerial survey.

The regional Office of Civil Defense counted a total of 80,196 people who were evacuated in the region.

Several villages were under threat of lahar, floods and landslides as rains continued to inundate the region.

The province of Albay and the towns of Buhi in Camarines Sur and Vinzons in Camarines Norte have been placed in a state of calamity.

SOS Manito

Cedric Daep, executive officer of the Albay Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said Manito, Albay was likely to remain inaccessible for two weeks because it would take that much time to clear the debris left by landslides and floods brought by rains that are blocking roads leading to the town.

Salceda launched “SOS Manito” and ordered relief goods sent to the town through a Navy ship.

Little was known of the extent of the devastation wrought on Manito, one of Albay’s poorest towns, before officials saw it from the air, according to Salceda.

“The impact of the landslides became apparent only today when the weather permitted us to conduct an aerial survey,” Salceda said.

Catch basin

He said while Manito appears to be the most devastated, the biggest number of evacuees came from Libon, Albay.

Libon has become a catch basin of floodwater from neighboring towns as it has the lowest elevation in Albay’s third district.

Salceda said his bigger concern was the damage wrought on crops because the floods struck during planting season.

The amount of rain that fell on Albay was the highest in the province without a typhoon, said Salceda.

As of Friday noon, at least 60,000 people had to stay in evacuation centers and village halls, schools, chapels, homes and government buildings that were turned into temporary shelters.

Aside from those in Manito, officials saw landslides in 19 villages in the towns of Tiwi, Malilipot, Sto. Domingo, Daraga, Bacacay, Pio Duran, and the cities of Tabaco, Ligao, and Legazpi.

Floods were reported in Iriga, San Fernando and Buhi in Camarines Sur; Caramoran and Bato, Catanduanes; San Fernando, Masbate; and Sorsogon City, Juban, Magallanes, Sta. Magdalena and Bulan, Sorsogon.

Calls for help

The freak weather also wreaked havoc in Northern and Eastern Samar, prompting officials there to call for help.

Northern Samar Gov. Raul Daza said people in the coastal towns of Biri, Capul, San Antonio and San Vicente, who are mostly dependent on fishing, are in need of food.

The rains started in the province Feb. 13, keeping people from going out to sea to fish, their main livelihood.

Communication lines to towns isolated by floods are down, he said. Ephraim Aguilar, Jaymee T. Gamil, Bobby Labalan and Madonna Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon and Joey A. Gabieta and Cyrain Cabueñas, Inquirer Visayas