'FALCON' EXITS PHL, LEAVES 2 DEAD, 15 MISSING / P54 M: 'FALCON' DAMAGE
MANILA, JUNE 26, 2011 (STAR) [PHOTO - A military rescue team inspects houses damaged by a mudslide in Barangay Gitnang Bayan in San Mateo, Rizal yesterday. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes due to floods caused by tropical storm 'Falcon.' Jonjon Vicencio]
Tropical storm "Falcon" made a wet exit early yesterday, leaving the country drenching from the continuous rains and floods that had forced nearly 90,000 people out from their homes.
The storm also left two people dead and at least 15 missing after drenching the country with three days of heavy rains.
Even though Falcon (international codename: Meari) was about 600 kilometers north of Manila and moving further away toward South Korea yesterday, it continued to add to seasonal monsoon rains, the Pthilippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
PAGASA weather forecaster Jun Galang said the weather would improve in the coming days but Metro Manila and other areas of the country would still experience occasional rains owing to the seasonal monsoon.
"So there would be instances when it would rain in the morning and then there would be a break from the rains in the afternoon," Galang said.
Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes following the three days of incessant rains that also left commuters stranded in Metro Manila since Thursday.
In Marikina City, some 25,000 people were moved to evacuation centers after floodwaters reached dangerous levels.
Authorities said it would be too early to send them home.
"They will only be allowed to return home once the water level (at the Marikina River) drops to 15 meters," said Marikina police chief Senior Superintendent Gabriel Lopez.
A total of 133,533 people were also evacuated in the province of Bulacan.
One of 15 fishermen from Catanduanes who were listed as missing at sea on Thursday had been rescued in Northern Samar but the rest had still not been found. There were also reports of three missing fishermen in Camarines Norte.
The Coast Guard said they had to call off the search and rescue mission for the missing fishermen because of the rough sea conditions.
In addition, a man and a woman were washed away by raging waters off Manila while two children could not be accounted for amid floods and landslides outside the capital.
The body of Ronald Dula of Islang Putting Bato, Tondo was retrieved near the breakwater at Pier 2.
Police also retrieved the body of an unidentified female found floating near the Manila Yacht Club along Roxas Boulevard.
The storm also triggered a tornado in Quezon City and Meycauayan, Bulacan, destroying several houses.
A 14-year-old girl was injured in the twister that destroyed five houses in a village in Quezon City on Friday. Among the houses that were destroyed included that of business tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco.
Numerous schools closed and at least 26 flights had been cancelled since Friday due to the bad weather, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), on the other hand, said the damage on infrastructure left by Falcon could go beyond P200 million.
Falcon had strengthened and was packing maximum gusts of 135 kilometers per hour and was forecast to continue moving north at 24 kph, PAGASA said.
In its 5 p.m. weather forecast, PAGASA said the prevailing southwest monsoon would affect Northern and Central Luzon, including Metro Manila, which would experience monsoon rains.
The Southern Tagalog region, on the other hand, would have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.
The rest of the country would be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, PAGASA said.
Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest would prevail over Luzon and coming from the southeast to southwest over the rest of the country.
Coastal waters throughout the archipelago would be moderate to rough. - Evelyn Macairan, Jaime Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde, Nestor Etolle, Raffy Viray, Reinir Padua, Eva Visperas, Dino Balabo, Celso Amo, Ric Sapnu
'Falcon' damage, losses: P54 million (The Philippine Star) Updated June 27, 2011 12:00 AMComments (0)
MANILA, Philippines - Tropical storm "Falcon" left more than P54 million in infrastructure damage and crop and livestock losses, and affected more than 723,000 people before leaving the country last Saturday, officials said yesterday.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Benito Ramos reported P30.86 million in infrastructure damage and P23.63 million in crop and livestock losses, respectively.
Bicol, the hardest hit region, sustained property damage worth P48.97 million.
Central Luzon and the Calabarzon region suffered P4.6 million and P900,000 in property damage, respectively.
Falcon (international name: Meari) damaged properties in the provinces of Zambales, Pampanga and Tarlac in Central Luzon; Rizal in Calabarzon; and Albay and Camarines Sur in Bicol.
Ramos said a total of 155,591 families or 723,371 people have been affected by floods in 540 barangays.
Of this number, 25,679 families or 118,921 people were temporarily housed in 188 evacuation centers nationwide.
The NDRRMC said Falcon left 17 people missing: 13 in Bicol, two in Central Luzon, and one each in Calabarzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
A certain Lily Rose Cesista was injured when a tornado hit parts of Quezon City last June 24. She was taken to the National Orthopedic Hospital for treatment.
Falcon left 1,210 houses damaged in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Metro Manila.
It also caused flash floods in Valenzuela City, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Marikina, Pasay City, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan and Manila in Metro Manila; and Albay in Bicol.
State agencies, local governments, and non-government organizations have provided more than P4.34 million worth of assistance to the affected families.
2 drown in Manila
Manila policemen recovered the body of a certain Ronald Dula in Islang Puting Bato, Tondo, Manila near the breakwater at Pier 2 last Saturday.
The body of an unidentified woman was also found floating in Manila Bay near the Manila Yacht Club.
1-year-old drowns
A one-year-old boy, Ronnie Bernardo, drowned in floodwaters in Hagonoy, Bulacan on Saturday. He was swept by strong currents, according to Roland Nicolas of the Office of Civil Defense in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Two people were also reported missing in Marilao, Bulacan. They were identified as Miguelito Muana, 14, of Olongapo City, and Glenn Villarmino, 22.
As of yesterday morning, floods have affected 112,515 families or 550,686 people in Pampanga, Zambales, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Tarlac provinces, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
In Central Luzon, some 28,935 people in 78 evacuation centers returned home after the weather improved yesterday.
However, officials did not expect the number of evacuees to go down significantly in the coming days as floodwaters from higher areas are expected to stream down in low-lying parts of the region.
Classes in schools used as evacuation centers are expected to be suspended until the floods abate.
57-year-old drowns
Rescuers are searching for a 57-year-old man who drowned in Chico River in Poblacion, Sadanga town in Mt. Province Saturday noon.
The Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera said Vicente Yossayos was declared missing Saturday noon after rampaging waters swept him in the major river that straddles Mt. Province and Kalinga province.
Since Saturday afternoon, rescuers have been combing the river system for Yossayos, according to Olive Luces, OCD-Cordillera director.
Meanwhile, huge boulders have rendered a section of the Halsema Highway (Baguio-Bontoc Road) in Topdac, Atok, Benguet impassable for hours Saturday.
However, clearing operations made a single lane passable as of mid-morning yesterday.
Mudslides along Klondykes in Camp 1, Tuba, Benguet also prompted the Department of Public Works and Highways to declare that section along Kennon Road open only to big vehicles. Motorists driving cars and other small vehicles were advised to pass along Marcos Highway when going to Baguio City.
The Baguio-Nueva Vizcaya Road has been closed to vehicular traffic after the Guesset section in Itogon town suffered landslides and rock slides as early as Saturday noon.
Rock slides and landslides also rendered the Mt. Province-Ilocos Sur Road in Callacban, Tadian, Mt. Province impassable as of mid-morning Sunday.
Minor highways in Benguet were also closed like the Itogon-Dalupirip Road, Gurel-Bokod-Kabayan Road, Kabayan-Buguias-Abatan Road-Alapang section, and Shilan-Beckel Road because of land, rock and boulder slides.
Two gates of Binga Dam in Itogon, Benguet have remained open since Saturday.
However, no information is available yet on Ambuklao Dam because of communication problems with the operator.
Authorities have yet to receive reports from other provinces in the Cordilleras on the immediate effects of Falcon's onslaught
No storm in next 2 days
No tropical storm is expected to affect the country in the next two days, the weather bureau said yesterday.
However, rains would still prevail over most parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, due to the enhanced southwest monsoon, according to Robert Sawi, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather division chief.
Sawi said Northern and Central Luzon will be cloudy with rains, becoming frequent over the western section due to southwest monsoon, being enhanced by tropical storm "Falcon," in the next two days.
The rest of the Philippines will have afternoon rains and thunderstorms due to the intertropical convergence zone, he said.
In Metro Manila, cloudy skies with rains will last until Wednesday, he added.
Meanwhile, PAGASA supervising undersecretary Graciano Yumul said based on latest forecast, a low pressure area may form east of Mindanao on Wednesday and intensify into a tropical storm.
Once it intensifies into a storm, it will be named "Goring," he added.
Yumul said the southwest monsoon was expected to bring widespread rains over the western section of the country, including Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mt. Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Abra.
He warned residents in these areas against possible flash floods and landslides.
Yumul advised fishermen along the coastal areas of Luzon not to go out to sea due to big waves generated by the monsoon surge. - With Ding Cervantes, Artemio Dumlao, Helen Flores, Eva Visperas
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