Landslide kills 8 in Sorsogon

MANILA, Philippines - Eight people were killed while 14 others were reported missing in a landslide that struck a village in Magallanes, Sorsogon while Catanduanes and Sorsogon were placed on “alert” as tropical depression “Dante” battered the Bicol region yesterday.

Rescue operations for affected families were also reported in the Sorsogon towns of Casiguran, Irosin, Magallanes and Juban.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of Dante was estimated 20 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center.

Dante is expected to be 30 kilometers east of Virac this afternoon, and 40 kilometers east of Virac by tomorrow afternoon.

Public storm warning signal 1, with winds between 30 and 60 kilometers per hour, is up over Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes, Masbate, including Burias Island, and southern Quezon.

In the Visayas, the same public storm signal warning is hoisted over Northern Samar.

Residents in low-lying and mountainous areas under Signal No. 1 are alerted against flash floods and landslides.

As of yesterday, Crising had been downgraded to a low-pressure area.

Earlier reports reaching the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Bicol at Camp Simeon Ola in Legazpi City showed that 12 bodies were retrieved from the Magallanes landslide when a big chunk of soil from a hill loosened and buried 11 houses, three classrooms and a barangay health center.

Raffy Alejandro, OCD-Bicol director, said they could not yet give a detailed account of the incident, as reports reaching their office remained sketchy and were being verified.

He said retrieval operations were ongoing in the landslide site headed by elements of the Army’s 90st Infantry Brigade.

Earlier, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said four persons were confirmed killed while 16 others were reported missing in the onslaught of tropical depressions “Crising” and Dante in the Bicol and Southern Tagalog regions.

The NDCC also reported that prevailing bad weather conditions in Bicol have forced the evacuation of some 5,000 residents to safer areas.

The NDCC identified two of the fatalities as Ricardo Canones, 60, of Lucena City, and Joel Acal, 19, of Talisay, Camarines Norte.

The third fatality was a certain Nanet Armada, one of the residents buried alive in the landslide in Magallanes, Sorsogon.

Acal was reported missing while fishing last April 28 when his vessel capsized amid rough waters due to Crising.

Evacuation

Tropical depression Dante forced the evacuation of some 10,744 people in Albay, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes, the OCD said.

Reports said that as of Saturday noon, electricity in Sorsogon City was cut off due to heavy rains and strong winds while Bulan town, which is 65 kilometers from Sorsogon City, has been isolated due to flash floods.

Cora Samar, head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in Legazpi City, Albay, said Dante has triggered an average of 343mm of rainfall in the island province of Catanduanes, 250.9 mm in Albay and 125.7 mm in Camarines Norte since Saturday morning based on a 24-hour observation period.

Heavy rains started Thursday in Albay while moderate to heavy rains was observed in Bicol over the weekend.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,294 villagers were evacuated in the towns of Libon, Sto. Domingo, and Malinao and Legazpi City.

In Camarines Norte, eight barangays were affected, forcing the evacuation of some 85 families or 425 people, while another 10 barangays were also affected in Catanduanes as 784 families or 4,254 people were evacuated.

Salceda said 825.75 hectares of maturing palay and another 75 hectares at the reproductive stage were under water. In Polangui town, 138 hectares of maturing palay were also flooded.

Salceda expressed fear that some 1,000 hectares of newly planted palay in Albay’s first district as well as another 5,000 hectares of palay to be harvested soon have been damaged by floods.

“Damage to palay could be placed initially at P47 million but could still go up to P50 million,” he said in a text message to The STAR yesterday.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that as of noon yesterday, 3,539 people were stranded in several ports in the Bicol region and the Visayas because of the tropical depression.

The PCG reported that most of the stranded passengers, numbering 3,015, came from Bicol.

In the three ports in Masbate province, 1,485 people waited in terminals, while 1,062 people waited for their ride in Sorsogon and 468 were in Legazpi City.

Latest information from PCG field offices showed 509 people stranded in Catbalogan, Samar and 15 others in Roxas City, Capiz.

‘Brace for stronger typhoons’

Stronger than normal typhoons, more flashfloods and landslides might hit the country due to changing climate patterns, Pagasa deputy administrator Nathaniel Cruz warned.

In a recent news forum in Manila, Cruz said more downpours are expected as the rainy season had started early.

Cruz said that in the past there were more rains due to the La Niña phenomenon but now, changing climate patterns are seen to bring more rainfall and flooding from rising seas.

“We now have summer with rains,” said Cruz, attributing this to climate change.     

The abnormal summer season is due to the presence of several rain-producing weather systems such as low-pressure areas, the inter-tropical convergence zone and the cold front.

“This is also a sign of a change of climate in the country,” he said.

But while there are more rains, the country would still experience hotter days, he said. “We refer to this condition as extreme weather condition. Our climate would either be very, very cold or very, very hot,” Cruz explained.

Reports said a recent study by the Asian Development Bank showed the Philippines would be among the countries hit hard by climate change. The other countries are Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The report said the four countries, heavily dependent on agriculture, forestry and natural resources, could suffer from water shortages as well as floods.

It said these countries would also likely suffer from drop in rainfall leading to worsening droughts and more forest fires, more destructive tropical storms, and flooding from rising seas that could displace millions of people and destroy property and mangroves.

Cruz also warned that if nothing is done to combat the changing climate patterns, it might affect the reclaimed areas in the country such as along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. – Sandy Araneta, Jaime Laude, Cet Dematera, Evelyn Macairan and Celso Amo