The southwest monsoon-battered country suffered 19 casualties and 1.3 million affected residents in large swathes of the country, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Tuesday, August 11. Enhanced by typhoons Luis and Maymay, the monsoon dumped a month’s worth of rain in the affected regions in the last ten days.
Authorities said 384,520 families were affected across 10 regions, namely Metro Manila, Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas and Zamboanga peninsula as of Monday.
Benguet Province recorded the most number of fatalities with 12 due to three separate landslides in La Trinidad (2), Baguio (9) and Atok (1). In Baguio, three were rescued while one remains missing, local police reported.
Two persons were also reported killed by a rockslide in Rodriguez, Rizal Province located immediately east of Metro Manila, one died after being struck by a falling tree in Antipolo City and another drowned in Binangonan.
In Batangas Province, one died of electrocution in Lipa City when he touched an electric pole while fording a flooded street; another was killed in Santa Teresita, Batangas due to a landslide; and one drowned in Batangas City due to drowning.
OCD Deputy Administrator for Operations Laurence Mina said they are currently validating reports of 15 injured individuals across the country. Twelve were injured: 12 due to landslides in various areas in Benguet, one in Rizal due to strong currents, and one in Cavite due to a vehicular accident caused by inclement weather.
A total of nine persons remain missing, eight in Benguet due to landslides and one in Batangas, OCD said.
The OCD, secretariat of the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, added that 624 relief centers are currently hosting 16,130 families (58,650 individuals) who have evacuated from severe flooding. An additional 11,360 families (39,290 individuals) RE being served in temporary shelters.
The weather disturbances also damaged a total of 367 houses. Of these, 340 were partially damaged and 27 were totally destroyed, OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo said in a public briefing Monday.
Infrastructure damage was estimated at P1.12 billion while agricultural losses stood at P3.53 million.
Flashflood alert in Metro Manila
The Hydro-Meteorology Division of the Philippine weather agency, meanwhile, issued a flash flood alert over parts of Metro Manila as early as 11 AM on Monday local time. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said La Mesa Dam east of the metropolis has overflowed as of Tuesday morning it added may cause more flooding in Quezon City, Caloocan, City, Valenzuela City, Malabon City and Navotas City.
PAGASA said La Mesa Dam’s water level was at 80.20 as of 5AM on Tuesday, exceeding its overflow height of 80.15 meters. It earlier advised residents along the Tullahan River banks “to be alert for possible flash floods.”
Government offices and classes are again cancelled on Monday throughout much of Luzon Island, Western Visayas and Western Mindanao. PAGASA also issued floodwatch warnings in the Pampanga (Central Luzon), Agno and Abra river basins (Ilocos Region) and throughout the National Capital Region.
Many regions have also declared office and class suspensions as of Tuesday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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