1 missing, hundreds evacuated due to typhoon ‘Lawin’

MANILA, Philippines – One person was missing and several flood incidents were reported as typhoon “Lawin” (international name Jelawat) hit the Philippines, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Monday.

Search and rescue operations were being conducted to find the still unidentified person from San Vicente village, Sirawai town in Zamboanga del Norte.

A flooding incident Sunday morning caused heavy rains that prompted the evacuation of 97 families of 300 individuals from Baliwasan Tabuk, Sarangani village and Gulayan Urban Poor Housing in San Jose village in Zamboanga City. They were evacuated to San Jose Guau Central School.

Meanwhile, 10 houses were damaged and about 50 persons were affected in Zamboanga Sibugay also due to downpour brought by the typhoon Sunday afternoon.

In Tugbungan, Zamboanga City, 74 families with 200 dependents from Bangon area were evacuated to Tugbungan Elementary School.

In Siocon and Sirawai, affected families from floods were brought to the nearest school and Sanguniang Bayan building for evacuation.

Siocon and Sirawai were experiencing power outage since Friday.

No casualties were reported from these incidents, the NDRRMC said.

As of late Sunday night, there were over 2,000 stranded passengers in Allen, Northern Samar, with 1,792 in Balwarteco and 570 in Dapdap. There were 147 rolling cargoes stranded in Balwarteco, while 43 in Allen.

The NDRRMC was in red alert status since Friday.

All storm signals were lifted even as typhoon Lawin continued to intensify over Philippine Sea. It was last spotted 480 kilometers east of Legazpi City.