PAF chopper assessing typhoon-hit areas crashes in Agusan del Sur
At least 26 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as rains driven by Typhoon “Tino” (Kalmaegi) flooded swathes of Visayas and Mindanao on Tuesday.
Entire towns on the island of Cebu have been inundated, while cars, trucks and even massive shipping containers could be seen swept along by muddy floodwaters.
In Agusan del Sur, a military helicopter deployed to conduct Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) in areas battered by “Tino” crashed in the municipality of Loreto, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said.
Air Force said the Super Huey, which reportedly had six people on board, crashed near the 60th Infantry Battalion headquarters. No information has been released yet on the status of the victims.
While “Tino” is expected to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, state weather bureau PAGASA said it is monitoring a potential super typhoon that could enter PAR later this week.
PAGASA said the tropical depression, located east of Northeastern Mindanao, will be identified as “Uwan” once it enters the Philippines either Friday night or Saturday.
The weather bureau said it could intensify into a super typhoon during the weekend, with maximum sustained winds exceeding 185 kilometers per hour.
Meanwhile, majority of the fatalities during the onslaught of “Tino” died from drowning, Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro said.
In Cebu alone, 21 people were killed.
In the 24 hours before Tino’s landfall, the area around Cebu City was deluged with 183 millimeters (seven inches) of rain, well over its 131-millimeter monthly average, state weather specialist Charmagne Varilla told Agence France Presse (AFP).
“The situation in Cebu is really unprecedented,” provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
“We were expecting the winds to be the dangerous part, but… the water is what’s truly putting our people at risk,” she said. “The floodwaters are just devastating.”
Local disaster official Ethel Minoza said rescuers were still attempting to reach residents trapped by floodwaters.
Don del Rosario, 28, was among those in Cebu City who sought refuge on an upper floor as the storm raged.
“The water rose so fast,” he said. “By 4:00 am, it was already uncontrollable—people couldn’t get out (of their houses).”
“I’ve been here for 28 years, and this is by far the worst we’ve experienced.”
Hundreds still living in tent cities after a 6.9-magnitude quake rocked the island in late September were “forcibly evacuated for their own safety,” Cebu information officer Rhon Ramos told AFP by phone.
In total, nearly 400,000 people were pre-emptively moved from the typhoon’s path, Alejandro said.
Deaths in other provinces included an elderly resident who drowned in an upper floor of their home in Leyte province and a man struck by a falling tree in Bohol.
Nine Visayas-based electric cooperatives (ECs) were experiencing total power interruption due to the impact of “Tino,” the National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported.
NEA said electricity services were cut in AKELCO (Aklan), BILECO (Biliran), CEBECO 2 and 3 (Cebu), CELCO (Camotes Island), LEYECO 2, 3 and 4 (Leyte) and PROSIELCO (Siquijor), based on the updated report of its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (DRRMD).
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking disaster-prone areas where millions live in poverty.
With “Tino,” the country has already reached that average, weather specialist Varilla said, adding at least “three to five more” storms could be expected by December’s end.
The country was hit by two major storms in September, including Super Typhoon Nando (Ragasa).
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change.
Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall. —With Agence France Presse
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated and merged with the print version. Originally posted with the headline “‘Tino’ kills 26, strands thousands in central Philippines.”
