Death toll from Tropical Storm Mario reaches 10

MANILA, Philippines - Ten people died from Tropical Storm Mario and damage to agriculture and infrastructure was placed at P144 million.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the deaths – mostly by drowning – were reported in Metro Manila, the province of Rizal and Bicol region.

In Metro Manila, seven people were reported injured.

In an update yesterday morning, the NDRRMC said Mario affected a total of 118,118 families (equivalent to 840,368 people) in Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the National Capital Region.

Of these, a total of 42,897 families or 197,509 people were inside 379 evacuation centers.

Mario also damaged 599 houses (90 totally;83,509 partially).

Thousands of people in Metro Manila and nearby regions were displaced by floods and their houses swamped with floodwater on Friday and Saturday.

The NDRRMC said heavy rains paralyzed Metro Manila and nearby regions on Friday.

Seventy-five roads and three bridges remain impassable in Metro Manila, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Central Visayas, and CAR.

As of 6 a.m. yesterday, 222 areas in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Metro Manila remain flooded.

The NDRRMC estimated P48,476,165 in damage to agriculture and P1.850 million to infrastructure in Ilocos Norte, and P2.4-million infrastructural damage in   Pangasinan.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)reported P91.34 million in damage to roads.

The NDRRMC said P14,506,635.58 in government relief goods and medicines were distributed to affected families in aforementioned regions.

These are from the combined resources of the Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD) at P13,524,637; local governments P882,537.60, and Department of Health (DOH)   P99,460.98.

Power has been restored in the province of Ifugao, while Ilocos Norte remains under a state of calamity, the NDRRMC said.

Mario moves away

Mario (international name Fung-wong) moved away from the country yesterday.

However, weather forecasters said monsoon rains will continue to affect the Batanes Group of Islands in the next 24 hours.

Mario was expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) this afternoon and move toward Taiwan.

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, all storm warning signals have been lifted, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). 

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of Mario was spotted at 261 kilometers north-northwest of Itbayat, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph.

Mario was forecast to move north northeast at 20 kph.

PAGASA said the Batanes Group of Islands will experience monsoon rains which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

The Babuyan and Calayan Group of Islands and Ilocos provinces will have cloudy skies with occasional rains.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

PAGASA said coastal waters of Luzon will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the south to southwest with slight to moderate seas. 

Mario was projected to be at 724 km north of Itbayat or outside the PAR this afternoon.

Body found

Rescuers found the body of a five-year-old boy floating in an irrigation canal in Barangay Oaqui in Luna, La Union following the onslaught of Mario last Friday.

Chief Inspector Reynaldo Soria, Luna police chief, identified the body as that of Clyde Maveric Acosta.

They are still looking for the body of 23-year-old Daryl Opeña of San Juan town along the Baroro river, he added.

Rescuers are still searching for barangay kagawad Federico Nillio, who was carried by strong currents while trying to save his livestock in Barangay Barangubong in the same town.

Barangay chairman Alex  Nuval also remained missing as 1 p.m. Saturday.

In Aringay, La Union at least 240 houses were submerged in a storm surge in coastal Barangay Alaska.

No casualties were reported among the 1,000 people affected.

In Bataan, the towns of Hermosa, Abucay and Mariveles remained flooded from knee to waist- deep.

In Barangay Almacen in Hermosa, floodwaters were from knee to waist-deep of average-sized person, while a portion of Barangay Mabatang in Abucay town was knee-deep.

Residents of Almacen resorted to motorized bancas for transportation.

In Mariveles town, barangays Balon Anito, Ipag and San Isidro remained flooded. 

The floodwaters were from knee to breast-deep on Friday, but subsided on Saturday.

At least  47 families or about 235 people were taken to evacuation centers in Mariveles.

An old woman identified as Zenaida Mendoza was hurt in her haste to call for help after a wall collapsed outside the house of her daughter.

Coastguardsmen and policemen in rubber boats and bamboo rafts evacuated the Luna Sports Center following continuous rains and strong winds.

Dredging

Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado again called on the national government to dredge heavily silted rivers in Bulacan and Pampanga to lessen the effects of flooding.

Floods in several barangays in the fourth and second districts of Bulacan were attributed to the overflowing of silterd rivers, he added.

The national government must reactivate the defunct Pampanga River Control System, an agency under the DPWH mandated to dredge regularly the river systems in Bulacan and Pampanga, Alvarado said.

In Pampanga, several low-lying barangays in the towns of Macabebe, Masantol, Candaba, San Luis and Minalin were under floodwaters from three to four feet deep.  

Floods from dam

In Isabela, the provincial government alerted yesterday residents along downstream barangays near Magat Dam of possible floods as the water level remained critical due to rains from Mario.

Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy III said a mass evacuation of residents along the dam’s low-lying areas was being readied since Friday in anticipation of the possible release of excess water along the Isabela-Ifugao border.     

Areas to be effected are the municipalities of Cabagan, Santa Maria, San Pablo, Tumauini, Delfin Albano, Gamu, Naguilian, Alicia, Angadanan, Echague, Jones, Agustin and the capital city of Ilagan.

However, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) allayed fears of possible flooding along the downstream towns.

Stored water would be reserved for El Niño forecast to affect the country by yearend, the NIA added.

Water would be released from the dam   gradually to avoid  flooding along the low-lying areas of Isabela and southern Cagayan, the NIA said.

As of 2 p.m. yesterday, NIA engineer Saturnino Tenedor  said Magat Dam’s water elevation was at 190.72 meters, which is within the critical level of 190 meters.  – With  Raymund Catindig, Ariel Paolo Tejada, Vic Alhambra Jr., Ric Sapnu, Artemio Dumlao, Charlie Lagasca, Non Alquitran, Edu Punay, Rainier Allan Ronda