'Agaton' death toll rises to 70

MANILA, Philippines - The number of fatalities caused by the weather disturbance has risen to 70, according to a report released Friday by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Two new fatalities were recorded namely Jun Balico, who died in a landslide in Davao Oriental and Tito Degamo who drowned in Davao del Norte.

The bad weather also left 86 persons injured while nine others are still mising.

More than 1.14 million persons or 244,344 families were affected in five regions.

NDRRMC said a total of 49,420 persons are still inside 156 evacuation centers.

"Agaton" has damaged P566.71-million worth of infrastructure and agricultural products and 3,482 houses.

Blue alert

Meanwhile, the NDRRMC Operations Center has been placed on “blue alert” as “Basyang” develops into a tropical storm.

The blue alert status, which placed half of disaster management personnel on standby, took effect 5 p.m. Thursday.

The NDRRMC has directed its field units to undertake precautionary measures and to initiate pre-emptive evacuation of families in low lying and mountainous areas if necessary. 

The local government of Dinagat Islands, which has been placed under signal no. 2, will impose a force evacuation on communities at high-risk areas.

“Storm surge at four meters are expected along coastal areas,” said Jane Mayola, public information officer of the province.

Around 5,000 families in Dinagat Islands are living along the coast lines.

NDRRMC also advised fishing boats and other small sea vessels to avoid venturing into the eastern seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon and of Visayas.