At least 51 people died after tropical storm “Usman” swept through the central Philippines over the weekend, authorities said Sunday, with rescue operations under way in flood-inundated communities.
The death toll rose from four a day after the storm brought heavy rain to the Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions, causing massive flooding and landslides, the government’s office of civil defense said.
Many of the deaths were due to landslides and drowning, it added, saying floods had yet to recede even as the weather disturbance weakened into a low pressure area.
“Most of the (affected) areas are underwater. We are sending troops and rubber boats to rescue families. In some areas the floods have reached the roofs of homes,” Claudio Yucot, head of the Bicol region’s office of civil defense, said.
The Philippine National Police said in Bicol region alone, at least 45 people were killed — 16 in Camarines Sur, 13 in Albay, seven in Masbate, six in Sorsogon, and three in Camarines Norte. In Northern Samar, at least six people died from landslides and drowning.
More than 22,000 people fled their homes ahead of the storm, which destroyed rice and corn crops and left some roads and bridges inaccessible, according to regional disaster officials.
Government forecasters said Sunday that heavy rain would continue over the next 24 hours in the northern Philippines.
READ: Usman barrels in, Eastern Visayas in harm’s way
In Legazpi City, a couple and their 3-year-old boy died after a their house was buried in a landslide Saturday. In Sorsogon four people died after they were hit by landslides in Sorsogon City and Bulan town.
In Camarines Sur, a father and son were buried alive when a landslide struck their house in Barangay Guibahoy in Lagonoy town.
Three people were confirmed dead due to landslide in Lope de Vega in Northern Samar. Another from the same town died of drowning.
The Office of the Civil Defense reported that two people also died at Brgy. Lokilokon in Paranas, Northern Samar, due to drowning.
Usman caused flooding and power outages in many parts of the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas. Many roads became impassible due to floods and fallen trees.
READ: ‘Usman’ intensifies, brings rain today till Saturday
The low-lying barangays of Lagonoy, Nabua, San Jose, Buhi, Garchetorena, San Fernando, Baao, Magarao, Presentacion and Lagonoy, in Camarines Sur; Casiguran, Sorsogon City and Magallanes in Sorsogon; and San Andres and Viga in Catanduanes, were under knee-deep to waist-deep floodwater.
Police Supt. Ma Bella Rentuaya, the regional spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the region, said that as of Dec. 29, at least 4,813 people, 501 vehicles, and seven ships were stranded across Northern Samar.
Reports from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Bicol said as of 1 a.m. Sunday, there were 1,630 passengers still stranded in the ports of Albay (1,146), Camarines Sur (442) and Catanduanes (42).
The OCD said 6,182 families or 22,301 persons were still housed in 66 evacuation centers in the six provinces of Bicol.
Power outages, meanwhile, were reported in the whole province of Camarines Norte, several towns in Camarines Sur and in the town of Bulan in Sorsogon.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Sunday reported that Usman did an initial P2.73 million in damage to agricultural products.
Damage to palay was recorded at P2.13 million planted on 684 hectares farm land, affecting 195 farmers in Camarines Sur and Samar areas.
Corn crops worth P604,107 were also destroyed.
The DA said it has already positioned seed reserves for rice, corn, high-value crops, and needed fertilizers in the affected areas.
