DEATH TOLL UP, MORE FLASH FLOODS LOOM / 'HELEN'
SIGNAL NO 1 UP 7 AREAS
[PHOTO - FOOD RELIEF Days of nonstop monsoon rains that flooded
many communities in Metro Manila last week have also displaced the common "maya"
from their usual food sources. At the back of a house at Filinvest subdivision
in Cainta, Rizal, three of the birds, also called Eurasian tree sparrow, seem to
be enjoying the sunlight and leftover food. AUGUST DELA CRUZ]
MANILA, AUGUST 13, 2012 (INQUIRER) - By Jeannette I. Andrade, Marlon
Ramos - Brace yourselves for more rains and flash floods. The low pressure area
spotted east of northern Luzon has developed into a tropical depression, and it
is called "Helen," the weather bureau said Sunday.
The new storm comes as the death toll from days of torrential rains last week
that submerged large swaths of Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon rose to 85.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (Pagasa) said Helen was expected to dump rains on southern Luzon,
particularly the Bicol region, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Pagasa warned residents and local disaster coordinating councils in these
areas to be on alert because the rains could trigger flash floods and
landslides.
As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the center of Helen was spotted 750 kilometers east of
Casiguran, Aurora. It was moving west-northwest at 11 kilometers per hour.
Forecaster Connie Dadivas said Helen, packing winds of 55 kph near the
center, would enhance the "habagat" (southwest monsoon) and bring rains to
southern Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, particularly the western section.
Metro Manila, which is still reeling from last week's unremitting rains, may
be hit Monday by isolated rain showers and thunderstorms.
While floods have gone down significantly around Manila, many areas in nearby
provinces remained inundated as overflowing dams continued to release water, the
national disaster coordinating agency said.
Landfall not expected
"Helen is not expected to make landfall," but it may bring scattered rain
showers over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon by Tuesday or Wednesday, Dadivas
said.
She pointed out that the weather system would most likely bring heavy
rainfall to Bicol.
The volume of rainfall within the 350-km diameter of the tropical depression
is from heavy to intense at 10 mm to 20 mm per hour, Pagasa said.
By Monday afternoon, the center of the tropical depression is estimated to be
550 km east-northeast of Casiguran and by Tuesday to be 410 km northeast of
Casiguran.
Death toll up
The death toll from last week's nameless weather disturbance, which brought
Metro Manila and outlying provinces to their knees, climbed to 85, according to
the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
The fatalities from the floods spawned by the monsoon rains topped the 53
reported deaths when Tropical Storm "Gener," which later became a typhoon,
battered much of Luzon two weeks ago.
At the height of the flooding, the authorities claimed that the casualties
had been minimized due to the government's immediate response to the disaster.
But Benito Ramos, NDRRMC executive director, acknowledged that the actual
picture of the devastation could be grimmer as the state agency was still
receiving reports from flooded areas.
Ramos said the council and local government officials were closely monitoring
several villages in Camanava [Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela], one of
the hardest-hit areas in the metropolis.
Although floods have subsided since Friday, mounds of garbage litter
residential areas in northern Metro Manila, he said.
"The garbage washed away by the floods posed great health risks to the
victims of the flooding," Ramos said.
Leptospirosis
The health department said water purification tablets were being distributed,
while mass immunizations were being carried out to prevent an outbreak of colds,
flu and other diseases.
Of particular concern is a possible outbreak of leptospirosis, a bacterial
disease caused by exposure to water contaminated by rat urine.
More than 3,300 people were infected and 249 died of the disease in the
aftermath of similar flooding in 2009, the biggest casualty figure for
leptospirosis in the world, health authorities said.
Drowning
"Many may have escaped the floods, but many could still die from
leptospirosis or other diseases," Ramos said.
As of 5 a.m. Sunday, the NDRMMC reported that 85 people had perished because
of the floods, 62 of whom drowned.
Twelve people, including nine family members in Quezon City, were killed in
six landslides triggered by the torrential rains.
Ramos said two victims died from a lightning strike, three were electrocuted,
three died of heart attack and two were killed by falling trees.
He said at least 10 people were reported injured while eight others remained
missing.
A total of 62,846 people were rescued by government and private teams from
the swamped villages in Luzon.
Damage at P605M
The NDRRMC placed the damage to infrastructure and agriculture at P604.63
million.
In Metro Manila alone, Ramos said more than P400 million worth of medical
facilities were destroyed by the rains that inundated a number of public and
private hospitals and stranded members of the hospital staff and their patients.
The NDRRMC said a total of 8,428 houses were either totally or partly damaged
by the floods, forcing 768,989 people to flee their homes.
Evacuees
The agency said 430,125 people were still staying in 948 evacuation centers
in Luzon and Western Visayas, while 338,864 individuals had moved to the homes
of relatives.
The NDRRMC said the weeklong monsoon rains had affected more than 3 million
people in 36 cities and 167 municipalities in 16 provinces in six regions—Metro
Manila, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Western Visayas.
It said about half of these affected areas experienced severe flooding. At
least 10 roads and three damaged bridges in flooded areas were still closed to
traffic.
Chief SuperintENDENT Leonardo Espina, director of the Highway Patrol Group,
said the Calumpit-Pulilan junction of the MacArthur Highway in Bulacan as well
as the Apalit-San Simon junction of the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga, and
a portion of a highway in San Fernando, Pampanga, remained impassable to light
vehicles.—With a report from AFP
Signal No. 1 up over 7 provinces By Matikas Santos
INQUIRER.net 12:18 pm | Monday, August 13th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines – Tropical depression "Helen" has intensified into a
storm with stronger winds and faster speed causing several provinces to be
placed under storm signal number 1.
Storm signal number 1 has been raised in Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, Cagayan,
Babuyan, Calayan, and Batanes groups of islands, the Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its latest
report on Monday.
"Tropical Storm "Helen" is expected to enhance the Southwest Monsoon that
will bring rains over Luzon and Visayas especially over the western section,"
Pagasa said.
Pagasa recorded maximum sustained winds of 65 kph near the center and
gustiness of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
Its speed increased to 13 kph and still moving West Northwest towards
northern Luzon.
As of 10 am, it was seen 550 km East Northeast of Casiguran, Aurora, Pagasa
said.
"Estimated rainfall amount is from 15 – 35 mm per hour (heavy – torrential)
within 400 km diameter of the Tropical Storm," Pagasa said.
"Intermittent light to moderate rains (2.5 – 7.5 mm/hr) are now affecting
Central and Southern Luzon becoming more frequent moderate to heavy rains (7.5 –
10.0 mm/hr) during the latter part of the day towards the evening over Camarines
provinces, Quezon province, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas
Mindoro, Bataan, Zambales and Metro Manila," it said.
Originally posted at 11:38 am | Monday, Aug. 13, 2012
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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