ROAD CLEARING Public works personnel start clearing debris from a landslide caused by continuous rains at Barangay Rizal in Sta. Elena, Camarines Norte, on Thursday. The soil started to erode on Dec. 24, blocking a lane in the area. —Photo courtesy of Sta. Elena MDRRMO
LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY, Philippines — Heavy rains brought by the shear line on Christmas Day caused floods in at least 44 villages in Camarines Sur and left two dead in separate incidents in the province and in nearby Camarines Norte.
In a report on Thursday, the Camarines Sur police said Jeffrey Lamitao, 41, was found dead in an irrigation canal at Barangay Lourdes Young in Nabua town around 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police said Lamitao was last seen walking near the irrigation at 6 a.m. that day.
READ: Shear line, ITCZ seen to bring more rains
In Camarines Norte, a resident of Lupi town in Camarines Sur, who was not identified in the police report, was also found dead in Basud town at 11:45 a.m. after he was reported missing on Christmas Eve.
An initial police report said the victim was swept away by floodwaters while riding a carabao and crossing the spillway at Barangay San Vicente in Lupi at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
In a separate report on Thursday, Gremil Alexis Naz, spokesperson for the Office of the Civil Defense in Bicol, said 44 villages were flooded while two landslide incidents were reported in Camarines Sur.
Naz said at least 95 families, or 439 people, were evacuated from the towns of Buhi, Libmanan, Ragay, and Sipocot.
In Quezon province, a 28-year-old man also drowned on Christmas Day in Agos River in General Nakar town.
The Quezon police, in a report on Thursday, said the man, identified only as “Noriel,” was swimming to cross the Agos River when he was swept away by a strong current in Barangay Banglos around 8 a.m. His body was recovered at 9 a.m. on Thursday in a part of the river in neighboring Infanta town, police said.
The Agos River originates from the Sierra Madre mountain ranges and ends up in the Pacific Ocean.
Rainfall warnings
Since last week, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has been issuing heavy rainfall and flood warnings due to the combined effects of Tropical Storm Pabuk (formerly Romina), the shear line, and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).
Pagasa, in a forecast on Christmas Day, said that the shear line in the northeast part of the country and the ITCZ would continue to cause heavy to intense rainfall until Thursday over the provinces of Aurora, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Catanduanes.
According to a bulletin issued by Pagasa on Thursday, the shear line will cause moderate to heavy rains until Friday in Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Davao Oriental and heavy to intense rains beginning Friday noon until Saturday noon in Cagayan. —with a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr.