CURSE OF ‘COSME’ An electric post, toppled by Tropical Storm “Cosme” (international code name Halong) as it swept the western coastline of northern Luzon on Saturday night, lies across the road in Dagupan City in Pangasinan province, impeding traffic flow. REY ZAMBRANO/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
8 killed as ‘Cosme’ slams northern Luzon By Nikko Dizon Northern Luzon Bureau, Central Luzon Desk, Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 04:02:00 05/19/2008
MANILA, Philippines—At least eight people were killed when Tropical Storm “Cosme” battered central and northern Luzon with center winds of 105 kilometers per hour at the weekend, ripping off roofs, hurling trees and iron sheets onto roads, and causing thousands of people to flee their homes in the midst of power blackouts.
Cosme (international code name Halong) vented its wrath on Zambales, Pangasinan, Benguet, La Union and the Ilocos provinces, damaging houses, felling power lines and cutting off electricity in several areas.
Power had yet to be restored in most of these provinces as of Sunday afternoon.
“The winds were strong. They were like ipo-ipo (tornadoes),” Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso told the Inquirer while inspecting the damage in his province. Eighty percent of the houses were damaged in Sta. Cruz town alone.
At least four people died in Pangasinan, three were killed in La Union, and one died in Benguet.
Reports reaching the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) said two persons died in Bugallon town and another in San Fabian town.
Lourdes Soriano, 72, was hit by a galvanized iron sheet while Cesario Basi died after a coconut tree fell on his house in Bugallon. A 36-year-old man, identified only as Pascual, was pinned by a fallen mango tree in Barangay Bolasi in San Fabian.
Police said the fourth fatality was a 2-year-old boy whose body was found floating in the Tanap River at Catacdang Bonuan. His two brothers, aged 3 and 4, were still missing.
The Office of Civil Defense said the La Union fatalities were Domingo Obungen, who was hit by a collapsed concrete wall; Juanita Esirio, who was struck by a flying galvanized iron sheet; and Maximo Ascensi, 72, who drowned.
A certain Joseph Palala was killed in Benguet when he was struck by a falling rock while digging for water supply, the OCD said.
It said 27,049 people were affected by the storm.
Dr. Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), told reporters in Manila that health department officials were still verifying the reported deaths.
Zambales and Pangasinan were hardest hit by Cosme, he said.
“It’s only May and we’ve already had four typhoons this year. It’s not normal,” Golez said. “PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) said there would be 20 to 22 typhoons this year. Let’s not be complacent because the typhoon season is only about to start.”
Cosme moving out
Cosme was headed for the Philippine Sea, and northern Luzon could expect improved weather conditions on Monday, PAGASA said.
The storm was expected to be 330 km southeast of Basco, Batanes, Monday morning and would no longer be within the Philippine area of responsibility by Tuesday, said PAGASA weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz.
“There will be improved weather conditions in Luzon in the absence of any storm that could enhance the southwest monsoon or habagat,” Cruz said. But the region will still experience light rains, he said.
Metro Manila will have fair weather in the coming days, Cruz said.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. conducted an aerial inspection of the damage in Pangasinan. From there, he proceeded to Zambales.
Thousands of families were left homeless in Pangasinan and Zambales as strong winds and waves battered coastal communities.
Several roads in Benguet were closed as landslides hit the area.
Central Luzon
Strong winds damaged some 7,000 houses in Sta. Cruz town in Zambales.
The provincial government opened three evacuation centers in public schools in Barangays Malabago and Gama, and at Sta. Cruz Academy in the town proper. More than 500 families or about 3,000 people living near the shores of the South China Sea sought refuge there.
At least 23 houses in a resettlement site in Barangay Cawag in Subic town were damaged as heavy rains and strong winds pounded the area on Saturday. Most of them had cracked walls and floors, reports said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said floods hit villages in Botolan, San Antonio and Iba towns, all in Zambales.
Pangasinan damage
Major roads in Pangasinan were littered with galvanized iron sheets from rooftops, fallen trees and electric posts and other debris.
“We did not expect the typhoon to be this strong,” Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said. “We can see the devastation but we cannot quantify yet the damage because our local officials are still in the process of assessing the damage.”
Power went out Saturday night. Communication was cut off after trees fell on electric and telephone lines.
Several families were reported to have been evacuated in Lingayen, Calasiao and Manaoag towns, and in San Carlos City.
Espino ordered clearing operations on major roads to ease the flow of traffic.
Worst hit by Cosme were western and central Pangasinan towns, he said. He said he had recommended the declaration of a state of calamity.
Dagupan badly hit
Dagupan Administrator Alvin Fernandez said the city was “badly hit but we cannot assess yet the damage to property (because) it’s massive.”
“The truth is that we are prepared for calamities but not this type … which was unexpected,” he said.
Fernandez said Dagupan would be placed under a state of calamity.
“The fish pens, the crops are all destroyed. Most of the houses, especially those made of light materials, have been damaged,” he said. Bangus (milkfish) pens and ponds in the city overflowed, allowing the fish to escape to the Lingayen Gulf.
At the city jail, three inmates escaped during a riot at 7 p.m. One of them was later rearrested.
Several hardware stores in Calasiao town ran out of supplies, especially nails, as many residents started rebuilding their houses.
Landslides in Benguet
In Benguet, landslides that hit the province’s interior roads caused relief officials to scramble for payloaders to clear the obstructions. Several private contractors sent earth-moving equipment.
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the following areas were closed to traffic: Guiset-Ambuklao-Guirrel in Kabayan and Bokod towns, Dalupirip and Twin River in Itogon town, Kennon Road in Tuba, and Palew in Tublay.
The Barangay Pakpakitan section of the Halsema Highway in Buguias town was closed, but Gov. Nestor Fongwan immediately sent a payloader there to clear the area. The highway passes through the major vegetable-producing towns of La Trinidad, Tublay, Atok, Buguias and Kibungan in Benguet, and Bauko in Mt. Province.
Fongwan allayed fears of a scarce vegetable supply, saying the Halsema along Atok, Tublay and Kibungan towns was open.
At least 21 houses in Sitios Toll Gate, Kiangan, Mill Site, Power and Green Valley in Barangay Camp 6 along Kennon Road were damaged by landslides.
Roads leading to Ifugao and Mountain Province were also closed due to several landslides.
Only Kennon was closed among the major routes to Baguio City, reports from the OCD in the Cordillera Administrative Region said.
The agency said two minor landslides were reported along Kennon and that it ordered its closure as a “preventive measure.”
The Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mt. Province road, Banaue-Hungduan road and Banaue-Mayoyao road were closed to traffic. Clearing operations started on Sunday.
In Baguio City, a house near the Dontogan Elementary School was covered in a landslide but its five occupants were unhurt.
The OCD said rainfall in Baguio measured 206.86 millimeters on Sunday. Reports from Gabriel Cardinoza, Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes, Delmar Cariño, Frank Cimatu and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Carmela Reyes and Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Jocelyn Uy in Manila
Copyright 2008 Northern Luzon Bureau, Central Luzon Desk, Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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