Lando wreaks damage even before landfall
Young boys ride a floating platform along the Pasig river on Saturday morning as Typhoon Lando enters the country.
MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Heavy rain and strong winds brought by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) destroyed homes, forced a number of families to evacuate and caused landslides in some areas in Bicol even before the storm could make landfall in Aurora province.
More than 2,000 people and more than 100 vehicles, mostly cargo trucks, were also stranded in various ports in Bicol, Mimaropa (Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) regions as authorities halted sea travel because of rough seas.
In Camarines Sur province, huge waves and strong winds destroyed seven houses and damaged 21 others in the coastal villages of Binagasbasan and Dangla in Garchitorena town, prompting the evacuation of 90 people, according to the provincial government’s Environment Disaster Management and Emergency Response Office (Edmero).
Edmero head Luzena N. Bermead said the families affected were evacuated to Kalahi Building at the Garchitorena town center and were given relief.
River overflows
Incessant rains experienced since in the province since Friday also caused the Inansagan River in Lagonoy town to overflow, flooding the town’s Barangay San Roque.
Bermead said a minor landslide was reported in Barangay Maqueda in Caramoan but there were no injuries or damage to property.
Flooding and minor landslides were also reported in Catanduanes province due to incessant rains over the last two days, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol reported.
As of noon on Saturday, 904 people were stranded in ports in the provinces of Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon, all in Bicol; 997 in the two Mindoro provinces; and about 200 in Quezon and Batangas ports, disaster officials said.
At least 100 buses and cargo trucks were also stranded in Bicol and about 50 in Mindoro ports.
Eugene Cabrera, chair of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in Mimaropa, said 778 passengers and 51 cargo trucks at the port in Calapan City and Dangay port in Roxas town in Oriental Mindoro had been stranded since Friday when sea travel for Batangas was suspended.
In Abra de Ilog port in Occidental Mindoro, 166 travelers and nine cargo trucks were also stranded.
In Lucena City, at least 180 passengers bound for Marinduque who had been stranded at the city’s port since Friday were housed at the two-story terminal building of the Philippine Port Authority.
Henry Buzar, Quezon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) officer, said “Operation Listo” was activated to deal with typhoon-related incidents.
In Bicol, the RDRRMC has also been on red alert since Friday for possible floods, landslides in low-lying and mountain slope areas.
School classes in provinces under storm warnings were ordered suspended, said Bernardo Rafael Alejandro, OCD Bicol director and RDRRMC chair.
Flights between Catanduanes and Manila have been suspended since Friday.
Relief stockpile
The region’s Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had a stockpile of food aid for 30,000 families, to be given to local governments as evacuations were called, Alejandro said.
In Albay, Gov. Joey Salceda warned residents in low-lying and mountain slope villages to watch out for floods and landslides.
As Lando approached Isabela province on Saturday, thousands of families sought higher grounds in the coastal towns of Palanan, Maconacon, Divilacan and Dinapigue and in flood-prone Ilagan City and the towns of Benito Soliven, Jones and San Mariano.
Sustained rains that began on Friday affected 1,256 families, or 721 people, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).
In Aurora, authorities moved out five families from Barangay 5 in the capital town of Baler and five other families from Barangay Calaocan in Dipaculao town, as a precaution against potential landslides, said Nigel Lontoc, chair of the Central Luzon RDRRMC.
In Benguet province, 240 families living near landslide-prone areas had either fled to safer ground or were being coaxed to relocate. Those being asked to move included families living downstream of Mankayan town, where a rock slide killed 16 pocket miners last month.
Officials of Sitio Elizabeth in Barangay Taneg took the initiative on Saturday following alerts issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the Cordillera.
Taneg village chief Gilbert Caluten said communities near the collapsed mountainside in Sitio Elizabeth had been instructed to evacuate. The MGB said at least 150 households were affected.
Farmers, too, scrambled to protect crops from Lando.
Harvest threatened
In Nueva Ecija province, rice crops planted on 171 hectares of farmlands are scheduled for harvesting next week but are now threatened by Lando.
In Isabela, Gov. Faustino Dy III ordered the evacuation of families in Yeban Norte village in Benito Soliven and in Tumauini town, following reports of severe flooding there.
The Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela, discharged water after its reservoir’s elevation reached its maximum level of 193 meters above sea level.
The PDRRMC in Nueva Ecija also issued alerts for severe flooding in the towns of Aliaga, Licab, Zaragoza, San Antonio, Jaen and Cabiao. Reports from Villamor Visaya Jr., Kimberlie Quitasol, Johanne Margarette Macob and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Anselmo Roque and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
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