Parts of Luzon still reeling from effects of ‘Chedeng’

After five days of heavy rains and flooding, provinces in Northern and Central Luzon are still reeling from the effects of tropical storm "Chedeng."

Two more fatalities were reported in Baguio City yesterday, raising the total death toll nationwide to 28. The new casualties were identified as Maria Eden Mosque and her eight-year-old daughter Angel.

The Office of the Civil Defense in the Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) said the Mosques’ house at Camp 6 in Tuba, Benguet was hit by boulders on Thursday.

Rescuers tried to save the mother and daughter but they were already dead when retrieved on Thursday night.

In typhoon-ravaged Pangasinan, officials said the flood was the worst that hit the province in 60 years.

The Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) placed damage to infrastructure initially at P17.5 million, while the fishery, agricultural and livestock sectors sustained losses of up to P31.1 million.

"Infrastructure damage consists mostly of damaged roads, eroded shoulders, potholes, washed out surfacing materials and scoured bridge approaches, " the council said in a report.

As of yesterday the improved weather condition has rendered all major thoroughfares passable to all type of vehicles, the council said.

Meanwhile, the fishery sector in Dagupan City has received three million bangus fries and one million tilapia fingerlings from President Arroyo as replacement for the P30 million worth of bangus that escaped from fishponds that overflowed at the height of the storm.

In Tarlac, landslides have isolated some 150 families in an upland village.

Retired Army Gen. Virgilio Florendo, head of the PDCC, said airlifting of relief goods to the isolated villagers of Barangay Labney in Mayantoc town is not yet possible because of bad weather.

Florendo added that floodwaters overflowing from neighboring Pangasinan have severely affected the eastern Tarlac towns of Anao and La Paz. - Andy Zapata, Benjie Villa, Cesar Ramirez