Manila: The death toll from the two typhoons that devastated Metro Manila and nearby provinces in September 26 and in northern Luzon starting early October is about to breach 800, disaster officials said, but local government officials predicted that figures could reach 900.
About 359 people, including 48 who are still missing, are feared dead in five regions in northern Luzon where typhoon Parma dumped 675 millimetres of rain from October 3 to October 12, Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said.
Typhoon Ketsana killed 377 when it dumped another 460 millimetres of rain on Metro Manila, lower northern Luyon and upper southern Luzon on September 26, said Rabonza adding the total death toll has reached 736.
Local government officials have given their respective reports of people who died in their areas, and sources told Gulf News the tally could reach as high as 900.
Several groups have started blaming each other for the devastation. About 6 million people have been affected and the cost of damage is estimated at $336 million (Dh1.23 billion), officials said.
Local government officials of Pangasinan, a hard hit northern province, are planning to file a class suit against the management of the San Roque Dam, adding they were responsible for the massive flooding in the region at the height of typhoon Parma.
Damage
San Roque Dam in Pangasinan's San Manuel town, caused a lot of damage when it released waters, Governor Amado Espino and former House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. said.
Massive and simultaneous release of dam waters from San Roque, together with waters from Ambuklao and Binga Dams and the sustained rains brought by typhoon Parma created torrents that submerged 80 per cent of Pangasinan, said de Venecia.
Senator Francis Escudero, presidential candidate of the Nationalist People's Coalition said he is supporting the move to file a class suit against the operators of dams across Luzon.
"If dam operators could be sued for deaths or injuries incurred by their disregard for safety, they could be criminally liable and any complaint may also add reckless imprudence to the class action suit,'' said Escudero.
Deluge
The San Roque Dam released 5,000 cubic metres per second at the height of typhoon Parma. "It was like a billion boxes being dumped on Pangasinan in a day, at the height of the typhoon," Giovanni Tapang, of the University of the Philippines' National Institute of Physics, told the Inquirer.
The San Roque Dam is owned by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and operated by the San Roque Multipurpose Project (SRMP).
About 10,000 troops are now working on rescue operations, relief and rehabilitation efforts in Northern Luzon, said Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr.
Numbers
- 736: official death toll in the typhoons so far
- 6m: number of peopleaffected by the storms
- $336m: estimated damages due to Ketsana and Parma
