Basyang’s rampage kills 4 in Caraga
BUTUAN CITY – A mother and her two children were killed, while another boy perished in a series of landslides that struck Carrascal town in Surigao del Sur after Trophical Depression Basyang made landfall Tuesday morning.
The fatalities were reported even as National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Tuesday said that a total of 528 families or 1,829 persons in 13 barangays in CARAGA Region were affected by “Basyang.”
NDRRMC Executive Director and concurrent Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, said the affected families were taken to 17 evacuation centers and were being cared for by local disaster officials.
Jalad also disclosed that a total of 2,704 passengers, 366 rolling cargoes, 62 vessels and three motor bancas are stranded in ports of Northern Mindanao, Eastern and Southern Visayas.
He said classes in Regions 6, 7, 8 10, and CARAGA were also suspended due to Basyang.
Jalad said the NDRRM Operations Center continues to be on red alert, and was continuously monitoring and disseminating Severe Weather Bulletins, Weather Advisories, 24-hour Public Weather Forecasts, Gale Warning, and other advisories to all RDRRMCs/ OCDROs through SMSs, facsimile, and official social media websites for further dissemination to their respective Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils.
The mother, her six-year-old son, and three-year-old daughter were killed when their house was overwhelmed by a landslide that hit Barangay Gamoton in Cassascal.
A 10-year-old boy, from Barangay Babuyan of the same town, also perished in a landslide that hit their home.
The identities of the victims, were temporarily withheld by the Carrascal Municipal Police Station (MPS) pending notification of their next of kin.
Health officials in Primary Health Care in Carrascal town were also determining the identities of the survivors in the landslide who have also been for injuries.
Meanwhile, at least 629 families or 2,236 individuals were severely affected as typhoon ‘Basyang’ (international name Sanba) struck Caraga region on Tuesday.
The affected families came from the flood and landslide-prone areas in the different parts of the region.
In its situational report sent to Undersecretary Hope V. Hervilla, officerin-charge of the Disaster Response Assistance management Bureau (DreAMB), Regional Director Mita Chuchi G. Lim of the Department of Social Welfare and Development said the affected families are now being provided with their immediate needs by the local government units, particularly family food packs (FFPs) being deployed by the agency.
“The evacuees are sheltered at 21 evacuation centers spread in various parts of the region,” she said.
The municipalities of Gigaquit and Tubod of Surigao del Norte province, the municipalities Bayabas, Cagwait, Hinatuan and Marihatag, all of Surigao del Sur rprovince and Surigao City, were most affected.