SEVERAL PARTS OF SOUTHERN Tagalog remained without electricity and under floods while the number of casualties continued to rise days after Typhoon “Santi” (international name: “Mirinae”) packed strong winds in the region.

In its latest report on Tuesday, the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) recorded 17 deaths and 2 missing persons in the region.

Laguna accounted for 11 deaths with the recovery of another victim identified as Fidel Reyes, 26, in a river in Calamba city late Monday, said the RDCC.

Quezon and Cavite reported one death each; Rizal recorded two deaths; while in Batangas, the bodies of a father and a son who perished after a bridge collapsed were retrieved on Monday.

Anthony Espedido, 51, from Pagsanjan and Anthony Candelaria from Liliw in Laguna, however, remained missing.

Power supply has not been restored in the towns of Alaminos, Magdalena, Liliw, Victoria and San Pablo City in Laguna; Candelaria, Sariaya, and Tayabas in Quezon; and in Jalajala and Pililla in Rizal.

The flood reaching five feet high remained in Pagsanjan while water remained at knee to waist level in some villages in Los Baños, Mabitac and Liliw in Laguna.

The Department of Public Works and Highways-Calabarzon estimated P133 million damage in infrastructure after the bridges of Colong-colong and Matingain in Lemery; and the “Bridge of Promise” in Batangas City collapsed due to the flashfloods.

In Majayjay town in Laguna, the San Isidro bridge remained closed to traffic.

It also estimated a P1.8 million worth of damage in the collapse of bridges in Quezon.

In the Bicol Region, the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council in Camarines Norte, which was hard hit by Typhoon Santi, reported a death toll of 11 as of Tuesday. Causes of death included drowning, extreme cold (hypothermia), and being hit by falling trees. Maricar P. Cinco, Karen Lapitan, Jonas Cabiles Soltes and Marrah Erika Lesaba, Inquirer Southern Luzon