70 families evacuated in 2 C’duanes villages

LEGAZPI CITY — A storm surge, not a landslide, swept through the coastal barangays of Cioron and Sikmil in Gigmoto, Catanduanes, authorities said.

Quoting a report from civil defense officials, Chief Superintendent Jaime Lasar, Bicol police director, said 70 families have been evacuated and are now staying at an elementary school in Barangay Cioron.

Lasar said the landslide that blocked a road in Baras, another Catanduanes down, has been cleared.

Bicol provinces bore the brunt of typhoon "Dindo" which weather forecasters said was moving toward the southern islands of Japan.

The Office of Civil Defense, meanwhile, said two persons, including a high school student, drowned in Sorsogon and Camarines Sur.

Eliseo Copran, regional social welfare director, said the total number of evacuees in Bicol has reached 805 families or 16,390 people.

Meanwhile, Smart Communications has deployed satellite communication support facilities in Tabaco, Albay and in the Catanduanes towns of Salvacion, Pandan and Caramoran where communication lines went down because of the power outage caused by the typhoon.

Smart has also put up calling centers using mobile satellite technology for stranded passengers in the ports of Tabaco and Virac, Smart public affairs head Mon Isberto said.

Isberto said Smart engineers are restoring normal service in the typhoon-affected areas. — With Mary Ann Ll. Reyes