Heavy rains trigger deadly landslides
15 dead as Inday enhances monsoon rains
MANILA, Philippines — Incessant, heavy monsoon rain enhanced by Typhoon Inday triggered landslides in Mindanao yesterday, killing at least 10 people in Sarangani and Lanao del Norte.
A drowning incident was reported in Bukidnon.
Office of Civil Defense Region 12 director Rodrigo Sosmeña said the 10 victims in Barangay Poblacion in Malapatan, Sarangani included children from at least two families living in a house that got buried in soil.
The fatalities were identified as spouses Alejandro and Gina Maladian and their three sons, and Ricky Yaton and his wife Bon and their three sons, who all belong to the ethnic Blaan community in the municipality.
Police in the town of Calanogas, Lanao del Norte said continuous rains caused a cave-in at around 2:30 a.m. on a hillside in Barangay Ngingir, which triggered a landslide that barreled through a number of houses, killing five people and injuring two, with six people still missing.
The Calanogas police and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office immediately dispatched rescue teams to the area.
Emergency responders took three hours to reach the accident site, which was approximately 10 kilometers from the police station, as roads were rendered impassable due to debris.
The five landslide fatalities are Norhana Ali, Akmad Camar, Naifa Mansawi, Juhary Muhshin and Norhaya Camar, according to Capt. Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), citing an initial report by officials of the Calanogas Municipal Police Station and Lanao del Sur’s provincial police director, Col. Caesar Cabuhat.
The bodies were recovered a few hours later by barangay and police responders.
The two injured victims were brought to the hospital for treatment, while search and rescue operations continue for six missing persons.
Police identified those still missing as Mujahid Abdulmajid, Mobairah Abdulrashid, Norhasan Abdulrashid, Arab Lilikan, Norlin Ali and Norhanima Ali, whose houses were covered by mud and rocks following two days of recurring downpour.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, meanwhile, reported that a 50-year-old man died of drowning on the evening of July 8, after being “swept by strong currents while crossing the spillway” in Barangay Managok, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
Thousands affected
Typhoon Inday and monsoon rains have so far affected a total of 49,422 people in Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, the Davao Region and Soccsksargen.
Of the number, the NDRRMC said 3,433 people are temporarily staying in 22 evacuation centers.
The heavy rains since Wednesday in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte, both in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, spawned rampaging floods and caused dozens of rivers in both areas to overflow, affecting more than 30,000 villagers, according to BARMM officials.
Maj. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and police Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, director of PRO-BAR, had separately dispatched emergency responders from units under them to support the disaster response operations of local government units in the flooded towns in the two provinces.
Cagara said soldiers from units of the 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao del Sur towns near the 220,000-hectare Ligawasan Delta – a catch basin for large rivers that spring from hinterlands in Bukidnon, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato – are using rubber boats in evacuating villagers from flooded villages to relief sites.
Heavy rains have displaced about 1,900 people in four municipalities of Negros Occidental, prompting preemptive evacuations, widespread class suspensions and the temporary suspension of sea travel across parts of the Negros Island Region.
According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, flooding up to a foot deep was reported in several communities, including Barangays Antipolo, Don Salvador Benedicto, Cambarus and San Isidro in Pontevedra; Barangays Robles and Maytubig in Isabela; Barangay Robles in La Castellana and Barangays Odiong and Poblacion 3 in Moises Padilla.
Flash floods, landslides
Heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides in several villages in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, on Wednesday afternoon, stranding motorists, inundating farmlands and forcing the suspension of face-to-face classes in five public schools.
According to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, continuous rains that began around noon caused a landslide that blocked portions of the road in several barangays, while widespread flooding affected the barangays of Managok, Maligaya, Violet and Miglamin.
Floodwaters from the overflowing Sawaga and Pulangi rivers submerged sections of the national highway, leaving several vehicles stranded and disrupting traffic.
Class suspensions
The Department of Education Schools Division of Malaybalay City suspended face-to-face classes on Thursday in the following schools: Sawaga Elementary School, Langasihan Elementary School, Managok Central School and Maligaya Integrated School due to flooding, and Matangpatang Elementary School due to road inaccessibility caused by a landslide.
In Quezon City yesterday, face-to-face classes in public schools were suspended due to heavy rains. Covered by the suspension were child development centers, kindergarten, elementary, high schools and alternative learning systems.
Private schools and tertiary institutions were given the authority to suspend their respective classes.
Local governments in both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental suspended face-to-face classes yesterday.
In Negros Occidental, face-to-face classes in all levels in both public and private schools were suspended in the municipalities of Calatrava, Don Salvador Benedicto, E.B. Magalona, Pontevedra, Pulupandan, Valladolid, Isabela, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, Candoni, Cauayan, Murcia and Hinoba-an, as well as in the cities of San Carlos, Silay, Talisay, Bago, La Carlota and Bacolod.
In Pangasinan, classes in both public and private schools in all levels were suspended yesterday in Sual, Aguilar, Basista, Binmaley, Bugallon, Lingayen, Mangatarem, Urbiztondo, Bayambang, Calasiao, Malasiqui and Mapandan.
Classes in all levels were also suspended in Santa Barbara, Manaoag, Mangaldan, San Fabian, San Jacinto, Alcala, Laoac, Santo Tomas, Asingan and Rosales.
Afternoon classes in all levels were suspended in Infanta, Binalonan, Pozorrubio, Santa Maria, and Umingan while the afternoon classes from preschool to senior high school were suspended in San Carlos City and Sison.
In Baguio City, Mayor Benjamin Magalong ordered the halt in all public and private schools starting at noon.
In La Trinidad, Benguet Mayor Roderick Awingan also ordered the suspension in all levels, public and private, beginning noon as a precaution against the worsening conditions.
Stranded
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said at least 789 passengers were stranded in 58 ports.
As of 12 p.m., the PCG said 249 rolling cargoes, 13 vessels and 33 motorbancas were stranded, while 158 vessels and 145 motorbancas were taking shelter due to the storm.
The PCG said in Southern Tagalog, at least 271 passengers and 23 rolling cargoes were stranded in 19 ports.
It added that in BARMM, at least 130 passengers and one vessel were stranded in Bongao Pier.
At least 64 passengers and four vessels were stranded in three ports in Palawan.
In Central Visayas, at least 94 passengers, 97 rolling cargoes, six vessels and 30 motorbancas were stranded in 13 ports.
At least 138 passengers and 108 rolling cargoes were stranded in three ports in Western Visayas.
In Bicol, at least 92 passengers, 21 rolling cargoes, two vessels and three motorbancas were stranded in nine ports.
The PCG said the Coast Guard District North Eastern Luzon delivered relief goods to fisherfolk in Sta. Ana, Cagayan yesterday to support their families affected by the typhoon.
The PCG Station Southern Negros Occidental also suspended island-hopping tours and all seawater-related activities in southern Negros because of rough sea conditions.
AirAsia Philippines announced yesterday that flights Z2 124/125 Manila-Taipei-Manila tomorrow are cancelled.
Monsoon still expected
Typhoon Inday may exit the Philippine area of responsibility, but the enhanced southwest monsoon will bring rains in Luzon and the Visayas, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
PAGASA weather specialist John Manalo said the counter-clockwise motion of Inday boosts the rains brought by the monsoon.
“Inday may exit PAR but it will still affect the country due to its strength,” Manalo said.
Orange rainfall warning or 100 to 200 millimeters of rain is raised in Occidental Mindoro, Zambales and Bataan until Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, yellow rainfall warning or 50 to 100 mm or rain is up in La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Palawan, Antique, Aklan, Capiz, Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros Occidental.
Orange rainfall warning is maintained in Occidental Mindoro, Zambales and Bataan until Monday afternoon.
Based on the latest weather bulletin yesterday at 4 p.m., the eye of Inday was last located approximately 520 kilometers east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.
It is packing winds of 140 kms per hour and gusts of 170 kph, moving north-northwestward at 20 kph.
Tropical Wind Signal No. 2 was raised in Batanes, eastern portion of Babuyan Islands and the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan.
The Office of the Vice President said it has activated its disaster preparedness and response measures, with relief goods and essential resources prepositioned in areas that may be affected by the weather disturbance. — John Unson, Roel Pareño, Gerry Lee Gorit, Janvic Mateo, Gilbert Bayoran, Cesar Ramirez, Artemio Dumlao, Bella Cariaso, Mark Ernest Villeza, Rudy Santos, Josiah Antonio, Emmanuel Tupas
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