‘Yolanda’ blasts through PH; 3 dead

Store roofs in barangay (village) Tabunok, Talisay City were damage due to typhoon Yolanda. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CDN

MANILA, Philippines—Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” one of the most intense storms on record, made five landfalls as it whipped central Philippines on Friday, terrifying millions with its monster winds that tore roofs off buildings and toppled trees, power and communication lines.

The government said three people had been confirmed killed and seven injured during preparations for Yolanda’s onslaught on Thursday, but the death toll was expected to rise once communication with the worst-hit areas was restored.

With communication lines down, the government grappled with piecemeal information as it tried to determine conditions in the hard-hit provinces.

Even Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, whom President Aquino ordered to Leyte province on Thursday to coordinate the government’s response to Yolanda, could not be reached by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

“Our problem now is not knowing what is their situation there,” Defense Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario said.

With telephone contact to the Visayas lost, the Inquirer had yet to hear from its reporters in the region as of press time last night.

“We don’t have reports of casualties today. We do not know really, because in [Eastern Visayas] we don’t have a line of communication,” Del Rosario said.

He said, however, that the telecommunications companies were expected to restore communication services within 24 hours.

No damage estimate yet

The NDRRMC also could not estimate the damage wrought by Yolanda, especially in Samar and Leyte, the two provinces in Eastern Visayas that took the full force of the supertyphoon as it hit land in the country.

Del Rosario tried to ease fears, saying the absence of communication, particularly with Samar and Leyte, did “not mean the situation there is worsening.”

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) had already weakened when it slammed into land in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, at around 4:40 a.m.

Yolanda’s maximum sustained winds went down to 215 kilometers per hour from 235 kph and gustiness from 275 kph to 250 kph.

But even with its force reduced, Yolanda remained one of the four most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the world.

Metro spared

Yolanda spared Metro Manila a whipping as it followed a downward track, passing over the sea south of Mindoro Island.

After Guiuan, Yolanda made a second landfall in Dulag-Tolosa, Leyte, around 7 a.m.

At 9:40 a.m, it made a third landfall in Daantayan, Cebu province, and hit land anew an hour later on Bantayan Island, also in Cebu.

Then, at 12 noon, the typhoon hit land for the fifth time in Concepcion, Iloilo province.

Many islands

Pagasa forecaster Aldczar Aurelio explained the repeated landfalls as the result of the presence of many islands in the Visayas region.

“The area is made up of many islands with bodies of water in between. So the typhoon is expected to hit land [more than] a couple of times,” Aurelio said.

Moving west-northwest at 40 kph, Yolanda crossed the Visayan Sea, hitting Panay Island, Occidental Mindoro and the southern tip of Palawan Island on its way out of the Philippines.

As of 4 p.m., Yolanda’s eye was at 115 km west of Roxas City, or over water off the western coast of Antique province.

By 5 p.m., Pagasa said, Yolanda was crossing the Sulu Sea.

“It is expected to cross the Calamian Group of Islands between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., and will exit the Philippine landmass, [moving over] the West Philippine Sea, by 10 p.m. if it maintains its 40 kph speed,” Aurelio said.

Pagasa said it expected Yolanda to be out of the Philippine area of responsibility by 10 a.m. Saturday.

Storm signals lowered

The weather bureau lowered storm warning signals in the afternoon as Yolanda steadily blew its way out of the country, although the typhoon maintained its maximum sustained winds of 215 kph and gustiness of 250 kph.

As of 5 p.m., public storm warning Signal No. 4 was up over extreme northern Palawan, including the Calamian Group, southern Occidental Mindoro, southern Oriental Mindoro, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo and Guimaras.

Signal No. 3 was raised over the rest of the Mindoro provinces and the rest of northern Palawan, including Puerto Princesa City.

Signal No. 2 was hoisted over Lubang Island, Batangas, Marinduque, the rest of Palawan, Burias Island, Masbate, Ticao Island, Negros provinces, Cebu and Biliran Island.

2 dead, 2 missing

Pagasa lowered the alert to Signal No. 1 in Metro Manila, Bataan, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Quezon, Camarines provinces, Albay, Sorsogon, Samar provinces, Leyte provinces, Camotes Island, Bohol, Siquijor, Camiguin, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat province.

Reports reaching the Inquirer said two people were confirmed dead, two went missing and several injured as Yolanda crossed the Visayas region.

The fatalities were identified as Reming and Randy Cejar, father and son from Alibunan village in Calinog town, Iloilo.

Calinog Mayor Alex Centena said the Cejars were electrocuted as they were repairing their house.

Government radio station dySL reported that a boy died after being hit by a falling tree in Sogod town, Southern Leyte. The report, however, had yet to be confirmed by the government.

A tugboat skipper, Capt. Celito Baluntang, went missing after falling off a gangplank in Balamban town, Cebu.

Manolito Casipong, 30, of Sitio Pangpang, San Isidro village in Talisay City, Cebu, also went missing after being swept away by the current when he tried to cross Mananga River.

Rescuers were searching for Baluntang and Casipong, local authorities said.

Early damage reports

Yolanda’s powerful winds tore roofs off houses, damaged infrastructure, and knocked down power and communication lines in Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Cebu provinces.

In Davao Oriental, storm surges damaged at least six houses along the coast in the towns of Baganga and Cateel, which were ravaged by Typhoon “Pablo” in December last year.

But in Cagayan de Oro City, residents who were evacuated on Thursday from their homes near the river, were allowed to return yesterday afternoon.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said electricity was also cut in Negros and Panay, and Quezon, Sorsogon and Zamboanga del Sur had outages.

The NGCP said the power flow from Luzon to the Visayas was blocked when an overhead high-voltage direct current line tripped.

According to the NDRRMC’s Del Rosario, there were responders from the military, police, and the Bureau of Fire Protection in every village, town, city and province hit by Yolanda.

Preemptive evacuations

Casualties were definitely reduced by preemptive evacuations in Eastern Visayas and Bicol on Thursday, local authorities said.

Still, three people died during the evacuations. The NDRRMC identified them as Enex Deinla, of San Jacinto, Masbate; Regie Francisco Bucoy, of Lanzones village in Zamboanga City; and Jimmy Caliban of Poblacion village, Lingig, in Surigao del Sur.

Deinla and Caliban were electrocuted while Bucoy was hit by lightning.

The NDRRMC said Angelyn Cuartocruz of Lanzones village in Zamboanga City was also struck by lightning.

In Guimaras, John Mar Bilano  was electrocuted and suffered burns in the neck, while Reynaldo Pajueta Sr. and family members Jolen Rey, Reynaldo Jr. and Joelen, and Molowe Belano were hit by falling trees.

The NDRRMC said there were 145,649 families, or 718,208 people, staying in 581 evacuation centers in 29 provinces.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had prepositioned 27,550 family food packs in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Bicol, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Caraga region.

Social Welfare Director Restituto Macuto said the DSWD had requested the National Food Authority (NFA) to provide 100,000 sacks of rice to eight typhoon-hit regions.

No landslides

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) chief Leo Jasareno said his agency had not yet received any reports of landslides, as the provinces were inaccessible, particularly Southern Leyte, Southern Mindoro, Cebu and Masbate.

“We are still monitoring the development in these areas,” Jasareno said.

Jasareno said 4,000 villages on Yolanda’s path were prone to flooding and 1,748 were vulnerable to landslides.

He said all those areas received advisories from the MGB.

The Department of Education said that 2.5 million students and 200,000 teachers from 7,000 schools had been affected by the supertyphoon.

Local governments immediately suspended classes. With reports from Riza T. Olchondra in Manila; Nestor Burgos Jr., Carla Gomez, Jhunnex Napallacan, Jani Arnaiz, Doris Bongcac, Carmel Loise Matus and Jennifer Allegado, Inquirer Visayas; Cai Panlilio, Inquirer Mindanao

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