MANILA, Philippines – The mother of Albay Governor Joey Salceda, who died after she slipped on the floor in her house at the height of Tropical Storm “Juaning,” (international codename: Nok-ten) has been officially listed as a disaster fatality as the death toll rose further to 50.
The name of Cielo Adelina Sarte Salceda, 89, of Polangui, Albay, was included on a list of Juaning victims by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which previously indicated it would not consider Salceda’s death as storm-related.
The NDRRMC put “fall” as the cause of death.
The elder Salceda was walking to the toilet at 1 a.m. when she slipped on the flooded floor, hitting her head. She was rushed to the hospital but died hours later.
In an updated situation report posted on its Web site, the NDRRMC also counted 40 injured and 25 missing, including 19 fishermen whose boat, the FB Hope Christy, sank during the approach of the storm.
Some 86 persons, most of whom had accidents at sea, were also rescued in separate operations, the NDRRMC said.
As of Saturday morning, Juaning, which left the country on Thursday, had affected almost one million persons, mostly in the Bicol region, especially Albay.
The NDRRMC estimated total damage at P1.466 billion, with P1.24 billion in infrastructure lost and P223.5 million in agriculture. A total of 6,145 houses were damaged, 578 of them totally.
From July 25 to 27, there were 11 maritime incidents, 17 floods, one collapsed mining tunnel (in Labo, Camarines Norte), one lightning incident in Carmona, Cavite, 13 landslides in four regions, and one tornado in Pandan, Antique, the NDRRMC said.