6 killed as ‘Bebeng’ slams Catanduanes

MANILA, Philippines—Tropical Storm “Bebeng” made landfall in Catanduanes province before noon Sunday, bringing heavy rains and landslides that left at least six people, including three children, dead in the Bicol region and the Visayas.

One went missing and thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes.

Packing gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, Bebeng (international name: Aere) cut power and telecommunication service in many parts of Bicol.

Camarines Sur was without electricity since Saturday and Sorsogon since 3 a.m. of Sunday. Many parts of Albay, including Legazpi City, were also without power Sunday.

The storm, the second in the year and the first to hit land in the country, was 70 km northeast of Daet town in Camarines Norte as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

It was hurtling northwest at 15 kph and was headed toward the Quezon-Aurora region.

Bebeng was forecast to leave the country or dissipate on Tuesday morning, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its 5 p.m. bulletin.

Instructions from Jakarta

Even if he was in Indonesia, President Benigno Aquino III Sunday ordered his officials to prepare for Bebeng.

From Jakarta where he was attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, Mr. Aquino “gave instructions to prepare the evacuation centers, identify them and for the Department of Social Welfare and Development to preposition goods to the targeted areas,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said on government radio dzRB.

While Bebeng’s center was tracking the eastern seaboard and north Luzon, the rains it generated had reached as far as Panay island, prompting PAGASA to expand its storm warning to cover almost the entire Luzon.

“Although the rains were not as heavy in the center, it is widespread. In fact, it is raining in the whole of the Visayas. This is because of the monsoon,” PAGASA administrator Nathaniel Servando said.

The Coast Guard has barred small boats from leaving ports in Bicol and Eastern Visayas, stranding thousands of passengers.

Flights canceled

Six international flights due to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) had to be diverted to Clark International Airport because of heavy rains that poured down Metro Manila late afternoon Sunday.

Eight domestic flights also had to be diverted to Clark, and two flights were delayed. As of 6:30 p.m., there were 42 canceled domestic flights to or from at least 10 destinations.

During a heavy downpour on Saturday night, lightning struck a plane on the NAIA tarmac, injuring nine ground staff, radio reports said.

Signal No. 2

The provinces likely on the path of Bebeng—Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, northern Quezon, Polillo Island, Nueva Vizcaya and Camarines Norte—were placed under public storm signal No. 2.

Public storm signal No. 1 was raised over Metro Manila and a wide swath of Luzon Sunday afternoon.

Also under signal No. 1 were Catanduanes, Albay, Burias Island, Camarines Sur, southern Quezon, Marinduque, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga and Cagayan.

Landslides

In Balatan town in Camarines Sur, three of the fatalities were children buried in a landslide in the remote subvillage of Ikogan, Barangay Luluasan, at 4 a.m. on Sunday.

Sisters Maribel R. Sanchez, 19, and Princess R. Sanchez, 8, and their cousin Marco Sanchez Espinida, 7, were already dead when they were pulled from under debris and soil that buried their home, said Senior Insp. Ayn Natuel, a spokesperson at the Bicol police headquarters.

Heavy rains softened the earth around the house of the victims, according to neighbors.

Luluasan was isolated as the provincial road leading to the village was no longer passable after water in the spillway swelled and flooded the road, said Natuel.

Other landslides were reported in the village of Talin-talin in Libon town and in a village in Polangui. No casualties were reported.

Electrocuted

A report received by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said a downed power line electrocuted Arnulfo Pesito in Libon.

In Barangay Malabog in Daraga town in Albay, Lourdes Lantero was reported to have drowned, the OCD said.

A missing boy was identified as Adrian Clark Ayana of Libon, Albay.

At least 10,700 residents of flood- and landslide-prone areas have been evacuated to safe ground and to evacuation centers across the region, the OCD said.

Roads closed

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has ordered the closure of some roads, amid massive flooding of river tributaries, to avoid drowning or to prevent vehicles from being swept away.

The roads are in Balangibang, Polangui and Paklas in Libon.

“The provincial road going to the (area) is not passable due to flooding,” Natuel said.

The number of stranded passengers in different Bicol ports tripled to 3,151 on Sunday from 1,267 reported on Saturday.

Florito Datena of OCD-Bicol said 1,366 passengers were stranded in Matnog, Sorsogon and 1,125 in Tabaco, Albay.

A man drowned while at least 1,730 families were displaced when floods and landslide hit a town and one city in Leyte and two towns in Northern Samar.

Luis Bengcol, 47, was crossing Villabina River in Barangay Canlampay, Carigara town when he was swept by strong currents on Saturday morning, according to the OCD in Eastern Visayas.

Cherylyn Lubang of the OCD-8 said the heavy rains on Saturday also triggered floods and landslides that displaced 632 families in 11 barangays in Ormoc City.

Six families were brought to the barangay hall of Alta Vista after a landslide hit Purok Rosal, District 29, at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Ten barangays in Ormoc were also hit by floods, displacing 3,756 people, according to Lubang.

Displaced in N. Samar

In Northern Samar, floods displaced 1,300 families in 24 barangays in Lope de Vega town and the capital town of Catarman.

Lubang said 20 barangays in Lope de Vega were affected by the floods, displacing more than 6,000 people, who took shelter at the municipal hall.

In Catarman, 100 families from four barangays were displaced after their homes were flooded on Saturday.

“Some of these families evacuated to their barangay halls while others were trapped inside their homes,” Lubang said.

In Allen town, 825 passengers were stranded while 16 light vehicles, 23 trucks and 26 buses remained at port after a Ro-Ro vessel was prevented from leaving for Matnog, Sorsogon.

The rough seas also caused the delay of the departure of a Bohol-bound vessel in Maasin City in Southern Leyte, affecting at least 70 passengers.

SW monsoon

Servando said the churning of Bebeng pulled in the southwest monsoon from the South China Sea. The monsoon, which started early this month, means sudden showers in the afternoons and early evening in the western seaboard, including Metro Manila.

The rains in these areas over the weekend came not from the center of Bebeng, but from the southwestern monsoon that was dragged and attached to the fringes of the storm’s rain band, he said. Reports from Mar Arguelles and Shiena M. Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Joey A. Gabieta, Jani Arnaiz and Elvie Roa, Inquirer Visayas; Kristine L. Alave, Christine O. Avendaño and DJ Yap in Manila; and Agence France-Presse