LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN – When the wind began to blow and the rains fell hard on Saturday, Lilian Padlan, 53, knew instantly that it would be a stormy night.

She had expected it would just be like the typhoons she had experienced before – when the skies clear, every one will be all right.

But instinctively, she sent for her 31-year-old pregnant daughter, Edivina, and her two granddaughters who live in the neighborhood to spend the night with her. She had worried that they would get wet from the rain in their shack on the beach and might get sick.

The next day, Padlan was shocked to see her neighborhood, including her daughter’s house at Sitio Aplaya in Barangay Pangapisan, almost wiped out by Tropical Storm “Cosme.”

“It was like garbage [was strewn] all over the place,” Padlan said. Tree branches, bamboo poles, nipa roofs and debris of damaged houses littered the place.

The sight would be no different from the rest of Pangasinan. Thousands of houses in the western and central parts were blown off by “Cosme” as it headed northwest from the South China Sea.

The provincial board on Monday placed Pangasinan under a state of calamity. The town councils of Lingayen, Calasiao and Infanta, and the city council of Dagupan also declared their respective calamity areas.

The death toll climbed to 15 on Monday, including 12 from Pangasinan. Eight deaths were reported in Dagupan and the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta, and Mangaldan, Infanta, Bugallon and this capital town. Four were reported on Sunday in Dagupan, Bugallon and San Fabian.

NDCC figures

In Manila, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) listed 12 deaths and nine injured persons. On Sunday night, it confirmed that five people were killed in Pangasinan, La Union, and Benguet and added seven more in its 6 a.m. report Monday.

A total of 34,755 people were affected or displaced by “Cosme”, the fourth storm to hit the country this year. Although Pangasinan, Zambales, and parts of La Union were hardest hit, the majority of the victims, whose houses were flooded or damaged, were in Iloilo province.

Of the 33,472 people, or 6,461 families, “affected” in Iloilo, 26,470 were from Iloilo City, the NDCC said.

In La Union, police reported three deaths. Domingo Ubungen was pinned by a concrete wall in Rosario town; Juanita Iserio, 68, was hit by an iron sheet blown away by strong winds in Rosario; and Pepito Estacio, 78, drowned after his hut was washed out by strong current in Sto. Tomas town.

In Pangasinan, reports from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council said the bodies of brothers Randyl and Rodyl Poserio, aged 3 and 4, who were reported missing on Sunday, were found at the Tanap River in Dagupan City by police and Navy rescuers.

In Urdaneta, Mario Quinto died after he was hit by falling debris on Saturday night.

Other victims were Carlito Maganes, who was electrocuted in Barangay Salay in Mangaldan; Elpidio Maoile, who was hit by debris in Infanta town; and Nicadio Ferrer, 65, who was pinned when his house collapsed at the height of the storm.

In San Carlos, Rogelio Austria died after being hit by a mango branch in Barangay Cobol. In Bugallon, Remedios Paulo, 72, of Barangay Bolaoen died after her house collapsed.

More victims, damage seen

Paterno Orduna, PDCC executive officer and deputized civil defense coordinator, said his office was expecting more reports on typhoon-related deaths and injuries and damage because it was only on Monday that local disaster coordinating councils were gaining access to isolated areas.

“Besides, telephone lines and power are still down in the province and we are having a hard time communicating with mayors in western towns,” Orduna said.

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) in San Manuel town reported that it had isolated its substations in Labrador town from the Luzon power grid after it was damaged.

Transco officials said 36 of the firm’s transmission towers were toppled, 35 were leaning and four were broken. They did not say, however, how long it would take to restore power in most parts of the province.

Power has yet to be restored in the 27 towns and cities serviced by the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (Cenpelco) and the Dagupan Electric Corp. (Decorp) on Monday.

Helping neighbors

In Mangaldan, residents opened their doors to neighbors whose houses where destroyed by “Cosme.”

On Saturday night, residents were observing the wake of a neighbor, Inday Terre, when winds blew off the roof of the family’s house in Barangay Salay. Mourners sought shelter in neighbors’ houses, leaving the coffin.

“Hundreds of avocado, mango, duhat, jackfruit and other fruits were scattered in our backyards. We were supposed to harvest our fruits this week but our trees were uprooted. It breaks my heart to see my relatives and friends homeless,” said Salay resident John Caberto, 22.

Infanta Mayor Ruperto Mallari said at least five villages in his town could not be reached by vehicles as uprooted trees were blocking roads there.
At least 100 fishing boats were reported to have been damaged in Infanta after these were battered by strong waves.

Orduna said damage to infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries in the central and western towns of the province would be at least P1 billion.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist reported that initial damage to fisheries and crops could reach P1.3 billion.

Flooding has also been reported in the low-lying towns of Sta. Barbara and Calasiao after the Sinocalan River, which crisscrosses the towns, overflowed. Five villages in Urdaneta City were also flooded.

Zambales, Benguet

In Zambales, Gov. Amor Deloso said the provincial board had declared Zambales in a state of calamity so funds for disaster response could be used to help poor families rebuild their homes.

“Cosme” left wood planks and GI sheets strewn on the highway in Sta. Cruz town, according to Neri Amparo, chief of the Office of Civil Defense in Central Luzon.

Amparo said residents started repairing their houses on Monday.

OCD reports showed at least 4,230 houses were damaged and at least 2,300 families were left homeless. The houses were mostly near the coast facing the South China Sea.

In Baguio City, personnel from the city government and the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) started clearing major roads of fallen pine trees and repairing electric posts toppled by “Cosme.”

Beneco has restored power to most parts of the city on Monday while the city disaster coordinating council responded to 20 reports of landslides and fallen trees.

Business as usual

In Benguet, it was business as usual at the vegetable trading post in La Trinidad on Monday as farmers were relieved when tropical storm “Cosme” did not delay the transport of harvests.

Landslides along portions of the Halsema Highway in Calasipan in Atok town and Bayoyo and Pakpakitan in Buguias town stalled some vegetable trucks on Sunday, but these roads were opened to traffic late Sunday afternoon.

Dominador Dongla, trading post chief inspector, said vegetable prices sold at wholesale fluctuated Monday morning but the rains were not blamed for the unstable prices.

Potatoes, which were sold from P20 to P22 a kilogram before the typhoon, went down to P15 a kg. Cabbage was sold from P15 to P18 a kg while wongbok (Chinese pechay) was sold for P18 to P19 a kg, up from P13 to P15 a kg.

Elsie Gis-it, Cordillera Vegetable Trading Post Vendors Association president, said the storm affected the supply but it managed to push up vegetable prices. With reports from Gobleth Moulic, Delmar Cariño and Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Nikko Dizon in Manila