‘Usman’ death toll hits 44; slides bury victims’ homes as they slept
HOLIDAY TURNS TO HARDSHIP The people of Buhi, Camarines Sur, including residents who have adorned their homes with a Christmas star, may find little reason to celebrate on New Year’s Eve after rains dumped by Tropical Depression “Usman” left the town submerged in floodwaters. PHOTO COURTESY OF BUHI POLICE
LEGAZPI CITY—At least 44 people have been reported dead and several others missing in floods and landslides in the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas caused by heavy rains generated by Tropical Depression “Usman.”
Heavy rains have also driven thousands in Southern Luzon out of their homes since Friday.
Many roads, including national highways, in the two regions are impassable, as these are blocked by boulders and mud that have been washed down from hills and mountains.
Low pressure
Usman came ashore in Borongan City, Eastern Samar province, on Saturday morning and later weakened into low pressure.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Sunday said Usman would be out of the Philippines by New Year’s Eve, but most of the country could expect cloudy weather.
Pagasa said Usman would still enhance the northeast monsoon and cause cloudy skies with light rains in Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon.
Usman’s trough—a region of relatively low atmospheric pressure—will also bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in Palawan, Pagasa said.
The Visayas and Mindanao regions, it said, will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with thunderstorms.
Pagasa said the rest of Luzon, including Metro Manila, would have improved weather but there would be “isolated light rains.”
Floods
In Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan (Mimaropa) region, the towns of Baco, Bongabong, Pinamalayan, Bansud, Naujan, San Teodoro, Socorro and Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro were flooded during heavy rains, with floodwaters reaching up to a meter high, according to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The council said 434 families, or 1,823 people, were in shelters as of Sunday.
In Baco, the Mangangan and Bayanan rivers breached their banks, bringing floods to the villages of Mayabig, Alag, Catwiran and Burbuli.
In Marinduque, Michelle Sanchez, 20, was injured when a tree fell on her house in Gasan town.
Three other houses were damaged in Gasan and another was damaged in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro.
In Bicol, authorities reported 90,040 people were in shelters as of Sunday morning.
Landslides
Some of the 38 people reported dead in Bicol perished in landslides that buried their homes while they slept on Saturday night or early Sunday, authorities said.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in the region said the number of fatalities could rise, as several people remained missing in landslides, including in Tiwi, Albay province.
“As of [5 p.m. Sunday], our death toll is 38. However, we are in the process of confirming five more in Buhi (Camarines Sur) and another two in Baao (also in Camarines Sur),” said Claudio Yucot, OCD regional director.
In Eastern Visayas, the regional civil defense office reported six deaths—four in Lope de Vega town in Northern Samar and two in Paranas, Western Samar.
At least 11 bodies were recovered from a landslide in Tiwi on Sunday, according to Cedric Daep, chief of the Public Safety and Emergency Management Office of Albay.
Daep said 11 were injured and eight remained missing.
The landslide hit the villages of Sogod, Maynonong, Bariis and Misibis.
More dangerous rains
Manuel Damo, chief of the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said responders thought the victims were in the shelters, but apparently they returned to their homes after Usman had been reported to have weakened.
“They (victims) must have relaxed after Usman was [downgraded to low pressure]. Most people don’t stay in evacuation centers, opting instead to go to houses of relatives that are in safer places,” Damo said.
“They didn’t know that the rains would be more dangerous than the storm,” he added.
The youngest fatality was Niña Angeline Bobis, 6, whose body was found in Sogod village.
The bodies of Jasmine Consulta, 7, her sister Sharmaine, 10, and their mother, Ranel Consulta, 45, were recovered in Maynonong.
The bodies of three other children were found in Sugod—Maylene Dacuno, 10, Gabriel Ignacio, 11, and Mark Angelo Cimbulan, 15.
Among the dead in the village were Nimrod Bobis Jr., 40, Rita Climacosa, 52, and Clerigo Ronnie.
In Bariis village, the body of Ruben Conventido, 52, was recovered.
Entire family
An entire family perished in a landslide in Baao town.
Police found the bodies of Babylyn, 29, Jielin, 14, Jieben, 12, Benjie Jr., 10, and Vince Jersey, 1, all surnamed De Lima.
Witnesses said the victims’ house at Barangay San Vicente was hit by a landslide around midnight on Saturday.
Police said the victims were probably asleep when the landslide struck.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Sunday said its field offices in Bicol, Western Visayas and Central Visayas sent food to travelers stranded at the ports.
The DSWD office in the Davao region was monitoring the situation at Governor Generoso municipality in Davao Oriental, after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the Philippine Sea 168 kilometers southeast of the town.
Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said the DSWD central and field offices, as well as the National Resource Operations Center, “have stockpiles and standby funds amounting to [P1.3 billion], which can readily be used to respond to emergency situations. —REPORTS FROM REY ANTHONY OSTRIA, MARICAR CINCO, MAR S. ARGUELLES, SUZENE CAJEGAS, MICHAEL JAUCIAN, STEPHANIE FLORIDA, VINCE F. NONATO AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE
