Mayor: Landslide Buried Entire Leyte Village; Rescuers Search For Dozens Missing

Rescuers are working overtime looking for survivors after an entire village in Baybay City, Leyte was buried by landslides caused by incessant rain from Tropical Depression Agaton.

Search and rescue missions continue in Barangay Cantagnos, which is home to about 210 households, Mayor Jose Carlo Cari said on Tuesday, April 12.

He said the entire barangay was buried, but some residents were able to escape since the first landslide was minor.

The barangay captain made it out but his tanod or watchman did not, Cari said over dzMM Teleradyo.

A second landslide buried the entire village, he said, adding that among those missing are several barangay watchmen who were helping evacuate residents.

At least 36 people died, 105 were injured and 27 are still missing in Baybay, according to city public information officer Marissa Cano.

Fifty-three of the injured were admitted in hospitals while the rest were outpatients.

Apart from Cantagnos, landslides also hit the baranggays of Can-ipa, Villa Solidaridad, Amguhan, Punta, Bunga, Mailhi, Bubon and Gacat. She said people were caught off guard by the heavy rains brought by the storm.

In Baranggay Mailhi, search and rescue operations since Sunday, April 10, by the Philippine Army’s 14th Infantry Brigade (IB) yielded 15 bodies, according to 8th ID commander Maj. General Edgardo de Leon.

Relief ops continue

The Philippine Army’s search, rescue and retrieval (SRR) teams deployed to help landslide victims confirmed at least 24 deaths from six different barangays in Baybay City, Leyte.

This brings the total reported casualty count of Tropical Storm Agaton to 30, including three other deaths in Negros Oriental and three more in Monkayo, Davao de Oro and Cateel, Davao Oriental as reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).

Capt. Kaharudin Cadil, civil military operations officer of the 802nd IB, said rescuers were able to retrieve 14 cadavers in Barangay Mailhi, five in Barangay Cantagnos, two in Barangay Maypatag and one each in Barangays Candadam, Pangasugan and Bunga.

NDRRMC spokesman Mark Timbal said search and rescue operations are still being conducted to validate or verify the actual number of fatalities.

The NDRRMC said Agaton has affected 95,741 families or 139,146 individuals from 274 different barangays in Regions 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, CARAGA and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Of the number, 4,681 families or 17,070 individuals are being housed in 117 different evacuation centers while 33,637 other displaced families decided to stay with relatives.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Tuesday deployed its humanitarian caravans to bring relief to families in areas affected by Agaton. A caravan consisting of one hot-meals-on-wheels, a mobile kitchen, a pick-up truck, one land cruiser, a rescue boat and 10 volunteers and staff were sent to Ajuy in Iloilo.

Another caravan is bound for Baybay City, Leyte that was devastated by the storm, PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said.

Weather

Weather across the country including areas in Eastern Visayas ravaged by Agaton is expected to improve for the rest of the Holy Week, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a special weather outlook.

Agaton is still inside the Philippine area of responsibility while Tropical Storm Basyang (international name Malakas) has left the Philippine area of responsibility after a very short stay that did not directly affect the country.

“Gradual improvement of weather conditions over Southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao is expected today and onwards as Tropical Depression Agaton continues to weaken into a low pressure area,” PAGASA said.

Beginning today, Holy Wednesday, PAGASA said the eastern section of the Visayas and Northern Mindanao would be mostly cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have fair weather conditions apart from isolated afternoon rainshowers and thunderstorms.

On Maundy Thursday, April 14, Good Friday, April 15, Black Saturday, April 16, and Easter Sunday, April 17, PAGASA forecasts generally fair weather conditions apart from isolated passing rainshowers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.

Meanwhile, nearly 10,000 passengers were left stranded in various seaports on Tuesday after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) temporarily suspended operations of port areas affected by Basyang and Agaton.

In its maritime safety advisory, PCG said 5,398 passengers, drivers and their helpers and 18 vessels were stranded in the Bicol region.

In Eastern Visayas, a total of 2,140 passengers, 833 rolling cargoes and 27 vessels were stranded while at least 727 passengers, 344 rolling cargoes and 42 vessels were stuck in North Eastern Mindanao.

The PCG added that 768 passengers, 89 rolling cargoes and nine vessels were stranded in Central Visayas while 302 passengers, 141 rolling cargoes and 1 vessel were stuck in Western Visayas.

The PCG deployed rubber boats and other assets to help residents affected by floods, particularly along the highway between Iloilo and Roxas City in Capiz after receiving requests from Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Cebu Pacific cancelled six flights from Manila to Caticlan and Bacolod (5J 891/892, 5J 483/484 and 5J 901/902) including turn-around flights while their sister company Cebgo cancelled Manila-Masbate-Manila flights (DG 6177/6178) due to bad weather.

Road closures, agri damages

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Roger Mercado said on Tuesday 16 national road sections in Regions 6, 7 and 8 were closed to all types of vehicles due to Agaton.

DPWH Quick Response Teams in the affected regions have been deployed to conduct clearing operations along areas deemed safe. Six roads in Regions 6 and 8 have so far been cleared and reopened.

Initial damage to agriculture caused by Agaton is currently at P265.3 million, the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center reported on Tuesday.

Among the affected were 2,132 farmers and fishers in Eastern Visayas and Caraga while volume production loss stood at 16,532 metric tons (MT) covering 3,060 hectares of agricultural land.

Rice accounted for 94.25 percent of the damage with a total affected area of 2,931 hectares and volume loss at 16,300 MT valued at P250.1 million.

Some 26 hectares of high value crops, particularly vegetables and bananas, were damaged, resulting in 232 MT worth of volume loss valued at P13.9 million. P1.4 million worth of damage to corn was also registered, covering 103 hectares. The DA said the values are still subject to validation, with additional losses expected. – With Miriam Desecada, Robertzon Ramirez, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jose Rodel Clapano, Rudy Santos, Emmanuel Tupas, Catherine Talavera