Heavy rain from Usman leaves 3 dead

LEGAZPI CITY  , Philippines  —  Three members of a family were buried alive here before dawn yesterday in a landslide triggered by heavy rain brought by Tropical Depression Usman.

Three children, meanwhile, were reported missing in Calbayog City in Samar province, according to disaster officials.

Myra Marbella, head of the Legazpi City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, identified the victims as Mauro Alegre, 26; his 20-year-old partner Mia Lorete and their three-year-old son Marco. The victims were believed to be asleep when a huge portion of a nearby hill in Purok 2 in Barangay San Francisco collapsed at around 1:30 a.m., burying several houses.

Ten residents in the area told rescuers they managed to leave their houses before huge boulders and debris covered them.

“Had these 10 persons not managed to leave their houses, they could have been buried alive also,” Marbella said.

More than 3,900 people were evacuated in four Bicol provinces, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol.

Of the evacuees, 2,640 came from Albay, 751 from Sorsogon, 433 from Camarines Sur and 78 from Catanduanes.

Rain-induced landslide in Barangay Naguilian in Apayao also killed Calanasan, Apayao administrative officer Alvin Alamin. He was traveling on a motorcycle at 8 a.m. when part of the road collapsed, reports said.

Due to suspension of sea travel, 8,475 travelers were stranded in ports. Matnog port had 4,863 stranded passengers; Pilar, 1,221; and Bulan 70, all in Sorsogon; In Tabaco port, 695 were reported stranded; Pioduran, 1,067; and Legazpi City, 13. Camarines Sur had 442 stranded passengers; Masbate, 78; and Catanduanes, 26, OCD said.

It also recorded 414 passengers of nine buses and 245 passengers of 84 trucks stranded outside the Matnog port.

Several areas also experienced knee- to waist-deep floods in the low-lying barangays of Lagonoy, Nabua, San Jose, Buhi, Garchetorena, San Fernando, Baao, Magarao, Presentacion and Lagonoy, in Camarines Sur, Casiguran, Sorsogon City and Magallanes in Sorsogon; and San Andres and Viga in Catanduanes.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Calbayog City, meanwhile, reported that many barangays in the outskirts of the city were isolated due to floods.

Mayor Ronaldo Aquino said rescue operations were underway for those who may have been trapped in flooded areas. Disaster teams had also been dispatched to deliver relief goods and medicine to residents of affected areas.

Aquino confirmed at least three barangays were isolated and beyond reach as of press time.

In its latest monitoring on Usman, the National Disaster Risk and Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported widespread flooding in 14 areas in the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas, particularly in Barangays San Buenaventura and Sta. Juliana in Buhi, Camarines Sur and in Barangay Asgad in San Andres, Catanduanes.

“We received reports about (the landslide and the killing of three persons) but it has to be validated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) led by the Management of the Dead and the Missing cluster,” NDRRMC spokesman Edgar Posadas earlier told The STAR.

The DILG has yet to validate the landslide deaths in Bicol.

Heavy rains prior to Usman’s landfall also caused floods of two to seven feet in Northern Samar.

“A total of 949 families or 3,671 persons were initially affected in 22 barangays in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur and Sorosogon in Bicol Region alone,” NDRRMC reported.

“We appeal to the public, especially those intending to travel these days via land and sea, to carefully plan their itinerary to avoid being stranded in ports due to the effects of Tropical Depression Usman,” said NDRRMC executive director and OCD administration Ricardo Jalad.

Jalad made the appeal in the wake of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s suspension of sea travel yesterday morning.

The sailing ban left 13,671 passengers, 1,183 rolling cargoes, 96 vessels and 25 motorized bancas stranded in various ports in the Bicol Region, Southern Tagalog, Central, Eastern and Western Visayas as well in Dinagat Island in Surigao.

Usman’s 30 to 60 kilometers per hour wind and intermittent rains, Jalad said, would continue to affect these regions and pose danger to sea travelers.

“The public is also advised, especially those residing within the landslide and flood-prone areas, to be on alert for possible landslides and flash floods during heavy downpour,” Jalad said.

But PCG spokesman Captain Armand Balilo said the PCG lifted the suspension at 8 a.m. yesterday.

The lifting was prompted by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)’s downgrading of Tropical Depression “Usman” to low-pressure area, effectively lifting all public storm warning signals in the country.

The NDRRMC also reported that several power grids and power plants in Bicol and Eastern Visayas had been affected by the storm.

Strong winds and heavy rain caused the shutdown of the diesel-fed power plants in Gilotongan, Nabucto and Penefrancia as well the mini power grid in Quinalasag in Camarines Sur and Rapurapu in Albay; Palumpabanes in Catanduanes.

Several areas in Eastern Visayas were without electricity as strong winds and heavy rains damaged the mini-power grids of Alagamo, Sto. Nino and Libucan in Samar; Batag, Biri and San Antonio in Northern amar and Lunang in Leyte.   – with Miriam Desacada, Raymund Catindig, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan