Rains, floods torment PH
DEFINITELY WORTH SAVING While his neighbors clutch sacks of food, clothes and other valuables as they seek higher ground in Calumpit on Saturday, this man gallantly becomes his dog’s best friend. Rising floodwaters continue to plague Calumpit over the weekend, as it has become the catch basin for waters draining from other Central Luzon provinces. CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE/ INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON
HEAVY rains pummeled the entire Philippines on Saturday, flooding more areas as the death toll after a week of devastating weather rose to 41, according to national and local disaster monitoring agencies.
Tropical Depression “Onyok” weakened into a low pressure area after hitting land in Manay town, Davao Oriental province, late Friday but continued to bring more rains to Mindanao and the central Visayas, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Cold monsoon winds blowing from the northeast brought rains to Luzon, where large farming communities have been submerged in mostly waist-deep floods from Typhoon “Nona” (international name: Melor), which hit at the start of the week.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported 34 people injured, five missing and P1.9 billion in damage to infrastructure and agriculture.
State of national calamity
President Aquino declared a state of national calamity on Friday to speed up rescue, recovery and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector and control the prices of basic goods and commodities in typhoon-ravaged areas.
Areas inundated by Nona have barely recovered from floods brought by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) in October.
“Almost the entire Philippines is experiencing rains. More floods are possible,” Pagasa weather forecaster Robert Badrina said.
Rains lashed Mindanao, the Bicol region and Western Visayas.
Pagasa reported light to moderate rains in the provinces of Romblon, Marinduque and Oriental Mindoro.
It rained all day in Metro Manila, flooding roads and causing traffic jams.
The NDRRMC reported a weather-related death in Quezon City, identifying the victim as Carlo Dicillo, 22, but not explaining how the man died.
Pagasa issued a warning of up to 30 millimeters of rain per hour in Cebu, Negros and Bohol and local officials advised residents to be alert for possible evacuation.
Poor farming communities in Mindanao went under water after at least two rivers burst their banks, local officials said.
Caraga evacuations
Close to 10,000 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Caraga before Onyok hit land on Friday night.
In Agusan del Sur province, large portions of the national highway were inundated after a nearby river burst its banks, regional civil defense officer Manuel Ochotorena said.
A river in Davao del Norte province also burst its banks, forcing residents out of their homes, provincial disaster officer Romulo Tagalo said.
In Compostela Valley province, hundreds of residents had been evacuated to safe ground before Onyok hit land. Rescue operations were under way Saturday as hundreds more were trapped in floods in several towns.
Raul Villocino, Compostela Valley provincial disaster action officer, reported evacuations in the towns of New Bataan, Montevista and Nabunturan.
Other provincial officials reported landslides in Ngan, Compostela, and Katipunan, Maragusan, but mentioned no injuries or deaths.
In Davao Oriental province, most of the people who were evacuated on Friday returned to their homes Saturday as floods began to ease.
Onyok’s 45-kilometer-per-hour winds did little damage in Davao Oriental, according to provincial information officer Karen Lou Deloso.
Swelling rivers
In Davao del Norte province, Tagalo said two other rivers, the Saug and the Hijo, were threatening to top their banks Saturday morning.
He said landslides were reported in Mambing and Santa Fe villages in Corella town, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.
Flooding was reported in Ozamiz City, but local authorities said it did not stop people from going to church for the traditional Mass at dawn, the fourth in a series of nine leading up to Christmas Day.
In Quezon province, a mother and her two young daughters were killed in a landslide that buried their house in Real town Saturday afternoon. Another child survived and was taken to a hospital.
Three other houses were buried in the landslide and rescue teams clawed through mud and rocks in search of survivors.
In Candijay town, Bohol, municipal disaster officer Jeryl Lacang-Fuentes said eight villages were inundated and the floods caused damage of at least P1 million to agriculture.
Fuentes said residents in low-lying communities had been slow to respond to flood warnings, leaving their homes for evacuation centers only Saturday morning.
Unexpected devastation
In Oriental Mindoro, more than 300,000 people remained in evacuation centers Saturday as the death toll after a week of rain rose to 11.
The provincial disaster agency said all of the 14 towns in the province and its capital, Calapan, were severely affected by the heavy rains brought by Nona.
The agency estimated the damage to infrastructure to be more than P10 billion and to agriculture, around P200 million.
Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali said the devastation was unexpected because the province was not in the direct path of the typhoon.
He said classes at all schools in the entire province would remain suspended until after the New Year.
In Luzon, 140,000 people displaced by floods and landslides triggered by Nona remained in evacuation centers.
The NDRRMC said tens of thousands of people were in evacuation centers in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas.
The government had distributed P56.1 million worth of relief to the evacuees, the agency said.
As Onyok had weakened, the Philippine Coast Guard eased the ban on sailings in southern waters Saturday.
The bad weather, however, forced the cancellation of Cebu Pacific and Air Asia flights between Manila and Tagbilaran, Bohol, and the diversion of a Philippine Airlines flight to Cebu. Reports from Jodee A. Agoncillo and Jaymee T. Gamil in Manila; Madonna Virola and Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon; Leo Udtohan, Inquirer Visayas; Frinston Lim, Ryan Rosauro and Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao; and AFP
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