2 die, 2 missing in Tacloban; 1 hurt, 1 buried in N. Samar
What the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) had described as a ‘tail-end of a cold front’ not only brought heavy rains in Eastern Visayas, but also caused floodings in some areas, and landslides — one in Tacloban City and another in Northern Samar province—resulting in six casualties.
In Tacloban City at about 8:35 p.m. on Saturday (January 13), a landslide occurred at Barangay 43-B in Quarry District, and toppled a 60-meter long concrete wall, which in turn struck eight houses, having nine families or 49 persons.
Four were immediately reported as missing and, about six hours later, or at 2:30 a.m. (January 14), rescuers found the body of barangay chief tanod Delia Carson, 60 years old, from the site, under her collapsed house. Her body was brought to Rolling Hills Funeral Parlor.
By Sunday, three were still missing: Barangay secretary Serjean Amancio, her live-in partner a certain Alex, and Zoe Hernandez, her daughter of her estranged husband. They were believed to have been buried alive by the landslide.
As of 7 p.m. Sunday, search and retrieval operations (SRO) — by a composite team of the military, the police, and the firefighters — continued, but was later stopped due to heavy rains. Yesterday morning the SRO resumed, and by 11 a.m., the body of 17-year-old Zoe Hernandez was retrieved from the rubble. She was a high school student.
In Northern Samar, a landslide on Saturday in Silvino Lobos town came crashing down on two motorcycles passing by the road. One of the victims, identified only as a certain Melvin survived but was injured. Another, a certain Jonathan Castillo remained buried in the landslide. The two brought to six the total casualties of the landslides that struck the region on that fateful Saturday.
In Tacloban, while the SRO continued yesterday, Mayor Cristina Romualdez had ordered forced evacuation of residents nearby or around the landslide scene, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that about 22 persons from seven houses have been evacuated to safer grounds.
Barangay 43-B Chairman Bebot Belarmino narrated to Mayor Romualdez the time he heard the crumbling sounds of the landslide, which he initially thought was just the concrete wall, only to find out immediately after that a landslide had occurred in the area.
Heavy rains wrought havoc in Tacloban City since late afternoon of Saturday. People living in the northern part of the city got stranded in downtown after passenger jeepneys did not travel due to deep flood on the road to the area.
Earlier, Mayor Romualdez had coordinated with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for a long term solution to the flood problems affecting several barangays and villages in the city. CDRRMC chair Brando Bernadas also said his office is now undertaking plans to relocate to new houses these recent victims of landslide.
Mayor Romualdez had also declared a cancellation of work in government and classes of all levels yesterday due to heavy rains.
Meanwhile in Ormoc City, CDRRMC officer Ciriaco Tolibao Jr. said there have been no reports of landslide in the city, but floods in low-lying areas, especially at Barangay Liloan, caused the evacuation of 306 families or around 1,230 persons.
City social welfare officer Delia Corbo said the evacuees were given warm meals and food packs. She said there were 2,000 food packs from the regional DSWD alloted for Ormoc for its pre-emptive evacuation efforts.
Dr. Nelita Navales, city health officer, added there is a team and ambulance staying nearby the evacuation centers to monitor the health needs of the evacuees.
Mayor Richard Gomez did not declare a city-wide suspension of classes, saying that DepEd Superintendent Manuel Albaño did not recommend it. Instead, school principals were given the authority to suspend classes in their schools, if deemed necessary, especially those used as evacuation centers.
As of yesterday afternoon, heavy rains stopped in Ormoc, although the City Agriculture Office’s weather station said the rains would sustain for the whole week.
Classes and offices were meanwhile suspended yesterday in several flooded towns in Northern Samar and 11 towns in Leyte.