Death toll from monsoon, typhoons reaches 12

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Crising’s death toll climbed to 12 yesterday with at least eight people still missing and the subject of continuing search and rescue operations.

In its latest report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 10 of the reported fatalities are still being validated.

As of yesterday, the number of families affected by Crising and monsoon rains over the past days had ballooned to 765,869 or 2,733,646 people. Of the
 number, the NDRRMC said 40,487 families (147,521 individuals) are temporarily staying in 1,117 different evacuation centers nationwide.

Estimated cost of damage to agriculture across nine different regions has reached more than P366.3 million, with Mimaropa sustaining the most damage at P121.5 million.

The NDRRMC said 40 cities and or municipalities in six regions across the country, including Metro Manila, have been placed under state of calamity. So far, more than P181.4 million worth of assistance has been given to affected families and communities in the form of both food and non-food items.

The Office of Civil Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said they continue to reinforce their joint disaster response operations as the country faces overlapping threats from typhoons Dante (international name Francisco) and Emong (Co-may).

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said 33 Disaster Response Task Units and Search, Rescue and Retrieval teams composed of 316 personnel to the hardest-hit areas in Northern Luzon and the Visayas have been deployed and in total, the military has 1,027 land assets, 48 flyable air assets and 25 sea vessels on standby across major islands.

Typhoon Emong remained nearly stationary over the coastal waters west of Pangasinan as of Thursday afternoon, with the state weather bureau warning of destructive winds and heavy rainfall in several provinces in northern and central Luzon.

In its 5 p.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the center of Emong was located over the coastal waters of Burgos, Pangasinan, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour near the center, gustiness of up to 150 kph and was moving slowly east-southeastward.

PAGASA placed parts of Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 4. The agency warned of significant to severe threats to life and property in these areas within 12 hours.

Signal No. 3 was raised over the rest of Ilocos Sur, La Union, western and northern Pangasinan and portions of Abra, Mountain Province and Benguet.

Several provinces in the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Cagayan Valley were placed under Signal Nos. 2 and 1, with gale- to strong-force winds expected to cause varying degrees of disruption.

The enhanced southwest monsoon, strengthened by both Emong and the earlier tropical cyclone Dante, continued to affect Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, the Visayas and portions of Mindanao. Strong to gale-force gusts were expected in coastal and upland areas through Saturday.

In addition to damaging winds, Pagasa warned of heavy to torrential rainfall in areas under Emong’s influence.

Based on Weather Advisory No. 37, rainfall amounts of more than 200 millimeters are expected over Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales and Benguet from Thursday to Friday afternoon. Up to 200 mm of rain may fall in Ilocos Norte, Abra, Mountain Province and Ifugao, while 50 to 100 mm is forecast in surrounding provinces.

Rainfall totals due to the monsoon may also exceed 200 mm in Bataan and Occidental Mindoro, with Metro Manila and surrounding regions receiving between 50 and 200 mm of rain in the next two days.

Meanwhile, Dante exited the Philippine area of responsibility and was last located 795 kilometers northeast of Itbayat, Batanes. Another system, Tropical Storm Krosa, has also intensified outside PAR and was located 2,040 kilometers east of southeastern Luzon.

President Marcos yesterday called for climate adaptation measures, saying the Philippines has to brace for future weather disturbances similar to Tropical Storm Crising and the southwest monsoon, which has so far affected hundreds of thousands of families and disrupted government work and classes.

Speaking to reporters in Camp Aguinaldo, Marcos said the mindset that regards cyclones as unusual or an emergency should be changed, noting that 12 to 15 typhoons are expected to enter the Philippines this year.

He added that cyclones would certainly hit the country so there is a need for measures that would mitigate their impact. “That is the fact of climate change and we now (have) to think more, of course mitigation, what we can do to help the victims,” the President said.

“But in the longer term, we really need to think of adaptation. What do we have to do when it comes again because it will come again,” he added.

Marcos said existing measures are in place in evacuation and health centers, but such arrangements should be made “almost semi-permanent.”

“Because this is going to happen... As I told them today, this will happen this year, it will happen next year, it will happen the year after that, et cetera, et cetera. So we have to think in those terms... Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of the weather,” he added.

Hours after arriving from his three-day official visit to the US, Marcos went to the evacuation centers at the Maly Elementary School and the Sta. Ana covered court both in San Mateo, Rizal to assess the situation of those who were displaced by heavy rains and floods. He then presided over a situation briefing of the NDRRMC in Camp Aguinaldo. –  Rudy Santos, Mark Ernest Villeza, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan, Bella Cariaso, Emmanuel Tupas, Christine Boton, Alexis Romero