Floods, landslides leave 21 dead from Bicol to Mindanao, Close to 300,000 displaced

By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau, Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) At least 21 people have died and more than 294,000 displaced by floods and landslides in the central and southern Philippines, relief officials said Friday.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the local Red Cross reported 15 dead and four missing in the Visayas and the Bicol region, southeast of Manila.

Another six people died in Mindanao after heavy rains lashed the area this week.

Most of the dead in the Visayas and Bicol were drowned by flashfloods while those in Mindanao were killed by a landslide, the OCD said.

It said in a statement that it would conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas to determine the extent of flooding and landslides.

A military C-130 flew to Samar, which bore the brunt of the storms, to deliver relief goods, the OCD added.

The Red Cross, the social welfare department and other relief agencies are also distributing food and relief goods in other affected areas.

The public works department has deployed heavy equipment to clear landslides and set up temporary bridges to make roads passable.

The entire province of Albay in the Bicol peninsula as well as the eastern half of Samar and one town in Capiz province have been placed under a state of emergency to help deal with the damage.

The weather bureau said a low-pressure area and the tail-end of a cold front in the country’s south had combined to bring unseasonal heavy rains across the islands over the past week.

In Albay province, 9,839 families or 50,458 persons were evacuated as of 11 p.m. Thursday, Governor Joey Salceda said Friday morning.

Salceda ordered a preemptive evacuation Thursday afternoon after incessant rains during the past eight days showed a 45.72-millimeter rainfall reading at 1 p.m., a level that signaled an evacuation was necessary to keep residents in areas threatened by possible lahar flows out of harm’s way.

Salceda urged Albayanos to be prepared to fight what he described as a “guerrilla type of disaster.”

“We are facing a new variant of disaster with many small incidents erupting sporadically when there are no major weather disturbances except continuous rains,” Salceda said.

He said an estimated P2.7 million had been allotted for relief goods for the affected families or a cost of P140 food packs for each family for two days.

As of 7 a.m. Friday, the death toll remained at three, the same number reported before the evacuation was ordered.

Over the past 24 hours, disaster officials recorded 16 landslides in the towns of Tiwi, Malilipot, Sto. Domingo, Manito, Daraga, Bacacay, Ligao, Pioduran, and in the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco in the province of Albay.

Four major roads, the Ligao-Pioduran, Ligao-Pantao, Legazpi-Tabaco, and Ligao-Tabaco roads, were still not passable but Salceda ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to clear them Friday morning.

Salceda announced the suspension of classes at all levels and advised those stranded in isolated areas to avoid unnecessary movements while waiting for rescue units.

An aerial inspection was set by the Albay Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council to monitor the floods and landslides.

Nine six-by-six army trucks and two rubber boats had been deployed for continuing rescue and evacuation efforts since Thursday night up to Friday morning in Legazpi City and the towns of Libon, Daraga, and Camalig towns.

Residents in Barangay (village) Busay in Daraga, Albay asked for rescue as floods submerged homes almost up to their roofs.

The sun shone in Legazpi City Thursday morning but Salceda said they were keeping residents in landslide-prone areas in evacuation centers.

“Soil saturation cannot be cured immediately. The threat of landslides is still there. We will be checking weather forecasts to see if there are still threats of flooding and lahar,” the governor said.

Salceda added that the rainfall accumulation reached 297 mm within the past 24 hours, the highest without a typhoon.

Salceda said the provincial government was also conducting strict monitoring of the prices of commodities to guard against overpricing.

He said they also wanted to make sure agricultural products and medicines were immediately available.

Most business establishments in Legazpi City’s central business district, including drug and grocery stores, were submerged in the floods and closed Friday.