World | Philippines
Relief teams count 25 dead after storm abates
About 25 deaths have been reported in a storm that triggered flash floods and landslides in 896 villages across 14 provinces in southern Luzon and the central and southern Philippines, disaster and relief officials said.
- By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
- Published: 20:51 February 22, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Flood devastation in Albay province's Libon town, south of Manila.
Manila: About 25 deaths have been reported in a storm that triggered flash floods and landslides in 896 villages across 14 provinces in southern Luzon and the central and southern Philippines, disaster and relief officials said.
In all, 106,455 families, or 514,862 people, have been affected by the storm system between February 12 and 17, the officials said.
Eight of the fatalities were caused by landslides, 14 by drowning, and three by electrocution, said the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
Hasty evacuation
Of the affected people, 60,654 families or 295,397 people were shifted to seven hastily built evacuation centres since Wednesday, the NDCC said, adding that floodwaters had not ebbed days after the torrential downpours ended.
Among the worst-affected areas are Albay in the Bicol region in southern Luzon; Capiz, Eastern Samar and Leyte in the central Philippines; and Lanao del Norte in the southern Philippines.
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The NDCC had begun an aerial survey of the landslide damage in Albay, Sorsogon, and Camarines Sur in the Bicol region. Many of the victims in these areas were entombed by landslides.
The aerial survey would help rush assistance to areas that remained marooned, officials said.
The regional offices of the Department of Public Works had sent personnel and heavy equipment to remove landslide debris from roads that had been completely blocked and to desilt rivers, the NDCC said. Temporary bridges were also being built to replace those destroyed in the calamity, they said.
Social workers from the department of social welfare, the Red Cross, and other non-government agencies were helping with the distribution of food and relief material at evacuation centres and in the hardest-hit areas.
State of emergency
A military C-130 helicopter had scheduled continuous flights to rush relief and reconstruction crews to the affected areas, the NDCC said.
Local government units in Albay in the Bicol peninsula, in Eastern Samar, and a town in Capiz declared a state of emergency to deal with the tragedy.
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