Frank death toll hits 19

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon “Frank” claimed at least 19 lives in flash floods and landslides mostly in Mindanao and forced thousands to flee their homes in various affected areas of the country even as it intensified further yesterday, disaster officials said.

The weather bureau forecast Frank to dump heavy rains over large parts of central Visayas and parts of Luzon until today, as it continued to move toward Mindoro as of 4 p.m. yesterday. Metro Manila was placed under public storm signal No. 2.

Before leaving for an official trip to the US, President Arroyo convened the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at Camp Aguinaldo and issued several orders to deal with the typhoon’s impact, directing the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to immediately conduct mercy missions in areas ravaged by the typhoon.

These areas include central and western Visayas, western and central Mindanao as well as the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region.

“The MMDA was ordered by the President to coordinate with the AFP to conduct mercy missions in badly hit areas,” said Office of Civil Defense (OCD) deputy administrator Anthony Golez.

The typhoon’s strong winds uprooted trees, blew away tin roofs and caused power outages in the central Visayas provinces.

Tourists on the holiday island of Boracay deserted its white beach and normally placid sea, which was rendered impassable by strong winds and high waves.

“Everyone is inside, they are snacking and drinking,” said Jay Paraoan, a hotel worker. “The storm arrived all of a sudden, we were not expecting it.”

Big waves prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to stop ferry services, stranding thousands of passengers in harbors in Bicol, eastern Visayas and some Mindanao island provinces.

Airport authorities said 89 flights to and from the central Philippines had been canceled due to the typhoon.

Although the typhoon was cutting through the central Philippines, its ring of rain clouds covered large areas of the main southern island of Mindanao, where most of the deaths were reported.

Ten people drowned after the Rifao river overflowed its banks and swept away three houses in a riverside village in South Upi in southern Maguindanao, provincial administrator Norie Unas said. Five others were missing.

At least 40 people were trapped on an island in the middle of the river, said town councilor Justina Betita.

In nearby Cotabato City, a 50-year-old man and his 10-year-old grandson were killed when a landslide buried their hillside shanty, Mayor Muslimin Sema said.

Four other people drowned in Maguindanao while in Cotabato province, authorities recovered the body of a farmer, one of three people reported missing, the mayors of two towns reported.

In Sultan Kudarat, deep floodwaters forced the evacuation of 200 families.

In the southern port city of Zamboanga, thousands of people were displaced and several low-lying villages and agricultural farms flooded by Frank’s ravage.

Hundreds of passengers traveling the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were also stranded as the Coast Guard advised small inter-island vessels to cancel travel due to rough seas.

During Frank’s onslaught, the Coast Guard said 1,764 passengers were stranded.

As of yesterday morning, Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo reported 240 passengers trapped in Batangas, 150 in Lucena, 154 in Calapan, 100 in San Jose, 60 in Real, Quezon and 60 passengers in Romblon.

A Cebu-bound ship carrying more than 700 passengers and crewmen encountered engine trouble and ran aground off Sibuyan Island in Romblon, the PCG said. The ship, M/V Princess of the Stars, left the Port of Manila at 12:55 p.m. yesterday.

During the disaster conference, the President also issued a series of directives to the departments of social welfare, health and public works and highways to preposition relief goods, medicine and basic disaster equipment to devastated areas.

“This is in anticipation of possible food shortage, outbreak of water-borne diseases and to ensure that the flow of basic services would go unhampered,” Golez said.

More deaths, evacuation

In the Visayas, in a coastal village in central Negros island, a 49-year-old woman died when her house collapsed after being buffeted by strong winds.

In Negros Occidental, a low intensity tornado triggered by the typhoon also left one dead after it destroyed 16 houses in the coastal village of Molocaboc in Sagay City.

An eight-year-old girl from Barangay Sta. Rosa in Murcia town was also reported missing after failing to come home from school Friday. Police said the second grader was last seen crossing a creek at around 2 p.m.

In Ormoc, Leyte, several people were reported missing, among them a father and his two children in Ormoc City. A child was recovered lifeless at past 10 a.m. yesterday, and a sibling was still missing in the nearby town of Kananga.

Mayor Eric Codilla identified those missing as Rafael Roble, 47, and his children Rodel, 11, and Mira, 7. Their house, which was made of light materials, was swept away by water from a nearby river that overflowed.

Recounting what happened, survivor Milania Roble, 46, told The STAR that at past midnight she and her husband and children jumped out of the window of their house as it began tilting from the strong current.

She said she survived by clinging on to a water container that kept her afloat. She last saw her husband holding on to their children.

In the eastern Bicol region south of Luzon, the storm forced over 200,000 people to seek temporary shelters, the OCD said. But most of the evacuees – specifically in Albay – were later advised to return home after the weather bureau downgraded the storm signal warning in the area from 3 to 2.

Typhoon Frank was originally forecast to sweep eastwards back into the Pacific Ocean. But instead it gained strength and moved westward, allowing thousands of residents forcibly evacuated from landslide-prone areas to return home.

In Albay, Gov. Joey Salceda ordered some 25,000 families or 150,000 residents to go back to their homes yesterday morning, except for some 2,000 families living in coastal barangays.

Salceda also ordered classes in all levels to be resumed.

Public storm warning in Albay and other areas was downgraded from 3 to 2 by Pagasa yesterday morning.

Typhoon movement

The typhoon, with international name “Fengshen,” packed sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 170 kph when it made landfall near the southern tip of Samar island southeast of Manila late Friday.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, it had winds of up to 160 kph and gustiness of up to 195 kph, according to Pagasa.

It was expected to cross Mindoro last night and will be 90 kilometers west of Calapan City or in the vicinity of Lubang Island by this afternoon.

By tomorrow afternoon, Frank will be at 190 kms west-northwest of Iba, Zambales and at 410 kms west-northwest of Laoag City by Tuesday afternoon.

In Luzon, public storm signal No. 3 was in effect over Romblon, Marinduque, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, including Lubang Island and the Calamian Group of Islands. In the Visayas, northern Antique, Aklan and Capiz were declared under the same storm warning.

As the MMDA expected Frank to hit Metro Manila today, it has put in place safety measures with Chairman Bayani Fernando issuing an order for officials, personnel and rescue teams to report to the MDDA office starting last night.

“We expect the typhoon to hit Metro Manila Sunday morning. The chairman has ordered rescue groups to be ready,” MMDA general manager Roberto Nacianceno said.

The Billboard Safety Initiative also temporarily rolled down billboards along EDSA in anticipation of the typhoon’s arrival.

Apart from Metro Manila, public storm signal No. 2 was hoisted over Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon (including Polilio Island), Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Masbate (including Burias Island) and northern Palawan. The rest of Antique, Iloilo and Guimaras were also under the same storm signal.

Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, southern Aurora, Sorsogon and the rest of Palawan was under public storm signal No. 3, as with Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor Island and Leyte.  – Antonieta Lopez, Roberto Dejon, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy, Celso Amo, Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan, Roel Pareño, Rhodina Villanueva, John Unson and the wire agencies