By Florante S. Solmerin
FIVE PEOPLE were killed and nine others went missing as Typhoon “Lando” (international name Koppu) tore down trees and unleashed landslides and floods, forcing thousands to flee as it pummeled Luzon Sunday, officials said.
More than 15,000 people were evacuated from their homes, with more expected to flee as the slow-moving storm grinds its way northwards across Luzon before it is forecast to leave the country on Wednesday.
“We’ve been hard hit,” said Aurora Gov. Gerardo Noveras, who said hundreds of residents were trapped by flood waters in the village of San Luis.
Disaster units backed by military and police personnel launched massive rescue operations in at least seven towns as flood waters rose from rivers swollen by torrential rain.
Col. Felimon Santos, commander of the Army’s 703rd Infantry Brigade based in Nueva Ecija, said they launched rescue operations in several flooded areas in the province.
Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali told the ANC news channel that the towns of Bongabon and Gabldon were under water and isolated.
The Office of Civil Defense said it was still verifying the casualties that included a 34-year-old man killed by a falling tree, a six-year-old girl swept away by floodwaters in Barangay Abian, Nueva Vizcaya, two others in Nueva Ecija, and one in Tarlac. Three fishermen went missing in Abucay, Bataan. Six other people were also reported missing in Baler and Nueva Ecija.
OCD deputy director for the region Nigel Lontoc said flood waters in Nueva Ecija were chest-high in some areas and still rising as rain dumped by Lando on the Sierra Madre mountains continued to cascade down to low-lying communities in the province.
In Bataan, a foreign passenger vessel with an undetermined number of passengers onboard smashed into the port.
As public storm signals went up over Luzon, the Department of Education and various local governments announced the cancellation of classes for Monday.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, classes in all levels were cancelled in Metro Manila, except for Quezon City, which only called off classes from pre-school to high school.
Classes in all levels were also cancelled in Cainta, Malolos City, Pateros, San Pablo City, Ilagan City, Antipolo City, Baguio City, Malabon City, San Carlos City in Pangasinan and the towns of Rodriguez and San Mateo, and in the provinces of Pampanga, Isabela, Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Ifugao, Batangas, and Bataan.
Earlier in the day, the head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council, Alexander Palma, said there had been no need for major search and rescue operations as a result of Lando.
“I must emphasize that this is just the start. People must remain alert while we try to pick up the pieces in areas already hit,” Palma said.
Lando made landfall before dawn on the coast of Casiguran, a remote fishing town of 31,000 people, remaining near-stationary for seven hours and whipping the area with gusts of up to 210 kilometers an hour.
“Lando tore off roofs of homes made of light materials. Rivers overflowed, and the roads to the area are blocked by downed power pylons and trees,” Lontoc said.
ABS-CBN network aired footage of a hospital building with its roof ripped off and houses torn down near Baler, the provincial capital that draws surfers from around the world.
Lontoc also said the authorities cancelled a surfing competition in Baler for the weekend and ordered about 2,000 participants to remain indoors.
By late morning the state weather service said the typhoon’s intensity had weakened slightly to gusts of 185 kilometers an hour while moving northwest over the Pantabangan Dam in the southern foothills of the Cordillera, the country’s largest mountain range.
Despite the storm weakening, the authorities warned heavy rains could trigger flash floods and landslides in the region, home to more than 1.6 million people and known for its spectacular rice terraces carved on the slopes of towering mountains.
“We are strongly recommending forced evacuations in the Cordillera administrative region especially villages that are landslide- and flood-prone,” Palma said.
State weather forecaster Alczar Aurelio said Lando was expected to weaken further into a severe tropical storm by Tuesday, but would only leave Luzon by Wednesday.
This was a day longer than earlier forecast, meaning the area could expect to be soaked with more rain, he added.
The authorities reported widespread power and communications disruptions across Luzon, with many roads and bridges also blocked by landslides, floods or fallen trees and power pylons.
Ferry services across Luzon were suspended amid rough seas while commercial aviation was also disrupted with 30 flights cancelled, two of them on international routes.
Residents of communities in the typhoon’s expected path were hunkering down under darkening skies, said Kate Marshall, part of an advance reconnaissance team of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the region.
“The rain is bad to intermittent and wind is picking up,” she said.
She said residents of Dupax, near the Pantabangan dam, were heading for the relative safety of schools and government buildings as floodwaters rose.
The weather service has also warned of storm surges, massive typhoon-generated waves smashing along coastal areas, but there have been no reports of these as the storm moved inland.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms each year, many of them deadly.
The deadliest and strongest on record, super typhoon Yolanda, destroyed entire towns in the central islands in November 2013, leaving more than 7,350 people dead or missing.
The Palace assured the public Sunday that government agencies were coordinating to keep people safe.
“The entire force of the government is focused on ensuring the safety of our citizens who reside in areas affected by Typhoon Lando,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in an interview over state-run dzRB.
The Trade and Industry Department said it has ensured that there are adequate supplies in areas that are affected by Lando.
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) reported Sunday that about 207,000 households or 4 percent of their customers were left without power due to Lando, with Cavite, Bulacan and Rizal among the worst hit provinces.
Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco public information head, said that restoration time depends on the volume of debris that needs to be cleared and the extent of damage doen to Meralco’s own distribution facilities. – With Sandy Araneta, John Paolo Bencito, Alena Mae S. Flores, AFP and PNA