InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- (2nd update, 1:49 p.m.) Eight people have been killed and 61 reported missing after heavy rains enhanced by an approaching tropical storm caused flashfloods mostly in Central Mindanao, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Thursday.
The number of missing individuals rose to 61 from 55 on Thursday after Sarangani's Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office undertook a survey and released an updated bulletin on the same day.
“The increase in the number of missing was obtained after the Glan and Maasim MDRRMO (municipal disaster risk reduction and management office) conducted a house-to-house survey in every barangay to identify and physically account affected families,” the report said.
The 765 families displaced by the flashflood in Glan are now receiving relief interventions in the town's four evacuation centers, the same report said.
The flashflood took them all by surprise, Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said, hinting that local officials may have been caught unprepared by the disaster.
He said this it was the first time that it happened to them.
“We were wondering because there was no rain days before Tuesday. The rain the night before was also not really strong…this is the first time that it happened to us,” he said.
The town has been placed under state of calamity. Classes were also suspended in all levels. Tan said the flashflood damaged at least P20 million properties. They are still accounting for crop and infrastructure damages.
Three fisherfolk earlier reported missing in Sarangani have been rescued, reducing the number of missing persons in the province from 58 to 55, the Office of Civil Defense in Region 12 said.
Three were rescued in Barangay Pangyan, Glan town this morning, Director Lita Enok said. Ermie Restaurio, Allan Estoral, and Juanito Cuezo were reported to be residents of Maasim town.
Enok said almost all of the missing were fishermen who ventured out to sea despite the huge waves and heavy rains.
Rains also destroyed over P1.8 million-worth of livestock and agriculture, Enok said.
In Davao City, landslides induced by heavy rains also killed 10-year-old Sweet Jhara Onad of Barangay Marilog on June 11, bringing the total number of dead to eight.
In Region 12, a total of 3,562 families were affected in the provinces of Sarangani, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.
Over 3,000 families were affected by the rains, which also damaged 283 houses.
5 missing from ferry sinking
In a related development, five people who were not on the list of passengers of the MV Josille 2 that sank off El Nido, Palawan last June 11, remain missing, the NDRRMC.
Juanito Tito, Jolito Buenafe, Mark Angelo Esmeria, Nora Cortez, and a certain Antonia, whose family name remains unknown, were still unaccounted for, the agency said, citing relatives of the missing.
On Wednesday, it was mistakenly announced that all MV Josille 2 passengers have all been accounted for.
Five died after huge waves hit the wooden-hulled ferry off Pagawanin Island in El Nido, Palawan. Fatalities were identified as Jeccamae Estarija, Pamela Anne Clariza, Nita Huyo, Severino Eliseo, and John Aldrin Atienza.
Flashfloods alert
According to the latest weather bulletin from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), flashfloods and landslide alerts were raised over the western section of Luzon due to the southwest monsoon.
Tropical storm Guchol (international name) continues to approach the country moving west-northwest at 20 kilometers per hour. Guchol packs maximum sustained winds of 85 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 100 kph.
The western part of Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms.
NDRRMC’s Ramos cautioned fishermen in the eastern seaboard of the country to refrain from going out to sea due to huge waves. The warning covers fishermen from the Davao and Surigao provinces, Samar, Leyte, and Palawan. InterAksyon.com
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