Ulysses leaves half of Camarines Norte submerged in flood

LEGAZPI CITY—Half of the province of Camarines Norte is inundated after Typhoon Ulysses dumped inches of rain and brought flooding to six of the province’s 12 towns, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol on Thursday (Nov. 12).

Jssar Adornado, OCD Bicol operation division chief, said an aerial inspection showed severe flooding in nearly all of the towns, with half still flooded even after Ulysses had left and leaving 21,000 persons displaced.

Adornado said villages in the towns of Vinzons and Labo were the areas hardest hit by the flooding.

The aerial inspection showed minimal damage to Calaguas Island, which is under the jurisdiction of Vinzons and famous for its beaches.

Camarines Norte Gov. Edgar Tallado, in a meeting with OCD Bicol officials on Thursday, told the agency that it would take days before the floods subsided as the Labo River continued to overflow.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) deliverd 5,000 food packs and other items to those hardest hit.

The province’s disaster risk reduction and management office reported that it needed hygiene kits and medicines for the evacuees, according to Adornado.

Adoranado said the clearing of major roads in the province was still ongoing.

Government engineers had advised commuters and vehicles from Manila going to Bicol to take the Sipocot Road and avoid the Sta. Elena Road, which remained impassable because of the flooding.

Power was cut off in the province after Ulysses uprooted posts and towers.

Tallado told the OCD that he has asked for the speedy restoration of power.

TSB