Neneng batters Northern Luzon

BLOCKED ROAD | Eroded soil softened by heavy rains blocked the national road linking Cagayan to Ilocos Norte after Severe Tropical Storm Neneng (international name: Nesat) hit Northern Luzon on Sunday, Oct. 16. (Photo by Santa Praxedes Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office)

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippines— Almost 7,000 residents had to be brought to safety in Cagayan province as Typhoon Neneng (international name: Nesat) battered a wide area of Northern Luzon on Sunday.

The Cagayan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported Sunday afternoon that 2,003 families or 6,911 people fled to evacuation centers in areas in the province still reeling from the devastation of Tropical Depression Maymay on Oct. 12.

In Santa Praxedes town, floods forced 337 families or 1,178 people to leave their homes since Saturday night.

“The data is even higher as we have the ‘Adopt the Neighborhood’ scheme here wherein relatives and neighbors allow their… affected fellows to stay with them for safety,” Santa Praxedes Mayor Esterlina Aguinaldo said.

A number of residents had to be rescued from the rising water, including a man in his 60s who held on to a malunggay tree for hours before disaster responders saw him in Rapuli village in Sta. Ana early on Sunday.

Many areas in Ilocos Norte province experienced outages as Neneng felled electric posts, while landslides blocked several roads in Abra, Apayao, and Mountain Province.

The storm was expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by late Sunday afternoon or evening.

President Ferdiand Marcos Jr. said the government was preparing to assist affected residents.

—WITH REPORTS FROM FRANCES MANGOSING AND JEROME ANING

RELATED STORIES

Classes suspended in Ilocos Norte on Monday due to Neneng

Pagasa: No more areas under Signal No.3 as Neneng moves away from Luzon

DSWD: P8 million fund on standby for those affected by Neneng