‘Labuyo’ kills 7 in Bicol

Tropical storm "Labuyo" has killed at least seven people, including a father and son who sought shelter in a cave in Camalig, Albay, and flooded dozens of villages across the Bicol region, officials said yesterday.

One woman was reported missing after she slipped off a bridge into a river in Albay, the Office of Civil Defense said.

Weather forecasters raised the first of a four-stage storm warning over 14 Luzon provinces as "Labuyo" headed northwest from the Pacific Ocean toward Cagayan with sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau warned ships in the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines to take precautions as the storm approaches the island’s southern waters.

"Labuyo" (international codename — Damrey) was unlikely to hit the island directly but could cause torrential rains in southern Taiwan, the bureau said.

The tropical storm followed monsoon rains last week that flooded wide areas of Luzon and left at least eight people dead and displaced more than 2,000 people.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said 35 villages were flooded in the Bicol provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay.

Jason Aragon, the OCD’s Bicol operations officer, identified the fatalities as Efren Napili, 45, and his son Joeffrey, 18, of Camalig town; Esther Bosita, 40, of Rapu-Rapu town; and Jeremio Reonal, 10, of Oas town, all in Albay; Sonny Tanay, 16, of Bato, Camarines Sur; Ronald Evangelista, one year and 11 months old; and a still unidentified female resident of Monreal, Masbate.

Aragon said floodwaters in at least eight barangays in Minalabac town and eight others in Bato town, both in Camarines Sur, are knee- to waist-deep.

Cedric Daep, head of the Albay disaster management office, said the provincial government has placed at least 20 villages in Libon and 10 others in Oas under a state of calamity.

Daep said repair work has started on roads rendered impassable by rampaging floodwaters from the slopes of Mayon Volcano.

Initial estimates placed the damage to infrastructure and agricultural produce across Bicol at P78 million.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said the water levels of the Upper, Middle and Upper Bicol River have been steadily rising.

In Marinduque, a 30-year-old man and an eight-year-old boy were still reported missing after a landslide buried their homes in Barangay Duyay, Boac town.

Forecaster Noel Pregonero said the rains brought by "Labuyo" were not as intense as last week’s downpours.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons a year. Three storms that came within days of each other late last year triggered massive landslides and flash floods that left more than 1,000 dead or missing in northeastern provinces, making it the worst typhoon season since 6,000 were killed in Southern Leyte in 1991.

To prevent a repeat of last year’s tragedy, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor has mobilized DENR officials in Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4-A.

"We have to do something to (prevent a repeat) of the killer landslides that occurred last year in Quezon and Aurora," he said. — Cet Dematera, Jaime Laude, Katherine Adraneda, Arnell Ozaeta