'Falcon' damage, losses: P54 million

MANILA, Philippines - Tropical storm “Falcon” left more than P54 million in infrastructure damage and crop and livestock losses, and affected more than 723,000 people before leaving the country last Saturday, officials said yesterday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Benito Ramos reported P30.86 million in infrastructure damage and P23.63 million in crop and livestock losses, respectively.

Bicol, the hardest hit region, sustained property damage worth P48.97 million.

Central Luzon and the Calabarzon region suffered P4.6 million and P900,000 in property damage, respectively.

Falcon (international name: Meari) damaged properties in the provinces of Zambales, Pampanga and Tarlac in Central Luzon; Rizal in Calabarzon; and Albay and Camarines Sur in Bicol.

Ramos said a total of 155,591 families or 723,371 people have been affected by floods in 540 barangays.

Of this number, 25,679 families or 118,921 people were temporarily housed in 188 evacuation centers nationwide.

The NDRRMC said Falcon left 17 people missing: 13 in Bicol, two in Central Luzon, and one each in Calabarzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

A certain Lily Rose Cesista was injured when a tornado hit parts of Quezon City last June 24. She was taken to the National Orthopedic Hospital for treatment.

Falcon left 1,210 houses damaged in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Metro Manila.

It also caused flash floods in Valenzuela City, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Marikina, Pasay City, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan and Manila in Metro Manila; and Albay in Bicol.

State agencies, local governments, and non-government organizations have provided more than P4.34 million worth of assistance to the affected families.

2 drown in Manila

Manila policemen recovered the body of a certain Ronald Dula in Islang Puting Bato, Tondo, Manila near the breakwater at Pier 2 last Saturday.

The body of an unidentified woman was also found floating in Manila Bay near the Manila Yacht Club.

1-year-old drowns

A one-year-old boy, Ronnie Bernardo, drowned in floodwaters in Hagonoy, Bulacan on Saturday. He was swept by strong currents, according to Roland Nicolas of the Office of Civil Defense in San Fernando, Pampanga.

Two people were also reported missing in Marilao, Bulacan. They were identified as Miguelito Muana, 14, of Olongapo City, and Glenn Villarmino, 22.

As of yesterday morning, floods have affected 112,515 families or 550,686 people in Pampanga, Zambales, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Tarlac provinces, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

In Central Luzon, some 28,935 people in 78 evacuation centers returned home after the weather improved yesterday.

However, officials did not expect the number of evacuees to go down significantly in the coming days as floodwaters from higher areas are expected to stream down in low-lying parts of the region.

Classes in schools used as evacuation centers are expected to be suspended until the floods abate.

57-year-old drowns

Rescuers are searching for a 57-year-old man who drowned in Chico River in Poblacion, Sadanga town in Mt. Province Saturday noon.

The Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera said Vicente Yossayos was declared missing Saturday noon after rampaging waters swept him in the major river that straddles Mt. Province and Kalinga province.

Since Saturday afternoon, rescuers have been combing the river system for Yossayos, according to Olive Luces, OCD-Cordillera director.

Meanwhile, huge boulders have rendered a section of the Halsema Highway (Baguio-Bontoc Road) in Topdac, Atok, Benguet impassable for hours Saturday.

However, clearing operations made a single lane passable as of mid-morning yesterday.

Mudslides along Klondykes in Camp 1, Tuba, Benguet also prompted the Department of Public Works and Highways to declare that section along Kennon Road open only to big vehicles. Motorists driving cars and other small vehicles were advised to pass along Marcos Highway when going to Baguio City.

The Baguio-Nueva Vizcaya Road has been closed to vehicular traffic after the Guesset section in Itogon town suffered landslides and rock slides as early as Saturday noon.

Rock slides and landslides also rendered the Mt. Province-Ilocos Sur Road in Callacban, Tadian, Mt. Province impassable as of mid-morning Sunday.

Minor highways in Benguet were also closed like the Itogon-Dalupirip Road, Gurel-Bokod-Kabayan Road, Kabayan-Buguias-Abatan Road-Alapang section, and Shilan-Beckel Road because of land, rock and boulder slides.

Two gates of Binga Dam in Itogon, Benguet have remained open since Saturday.

However, no information is available yet on Ambuklao Dam because of communication problems with the operator.

Authorities have yet to receive reports from other provinces in the Cordilleras on the immediate effects of Falcon’s onslaught

No storm in next 2 days

No tropical storm is expected to affect the country in the next two days, the weather bureau said yesterday.

However, rains would still prevail over most parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, due to the enhanced southwest monsoon, according to Robert Sawi, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather division chief.

Sawi said Northern and Central Luzon will be cloudy with rains, becoming frequent over the western section due to southwest monsoon, being enhanced by tropical storm “Falcon,” in the next two days.

The rest of the Philippines will have afternoon rains and thunderstorms due to the intertropical convergence zone, he said.

In Metro Manila, cloudy skies with rains will last until Wednesday, he added.

Meanwhile, PAGASA supervising undersecretary Graciano Yumul said based on latest forecast, a low pressure area may form east of Mindanao on Wednesday and intensify into a tropical storm.

Once it intensifies into a storm, it will be named “Goring,” he added.

Yumul said the southwest monsoon was expected to bring widespread rains over the western section of the country, including Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mt. Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Abra.

He warned residents in these areas against possible flash floods and landslides.

Yumul advised fishermen along the coastal areas of Luzon not to go out to sea due to big waves generated by the monsoon surge. - With Ding Cervantes, Artemio Dumlao, Helen Flores, Eva Visperas