Rains trigger landslides, floods in Bicol areas
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 23:17:00 12/08/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—As monsoon rains continue to affect Southern Luzon, two fishermen were reported missing while roads have been made impassable by landslides and floods in the provinces of Catanduanes and Sorsogon, officials said.
The Bicol regional disaster coordinating council identified the two fishermen as Edwin Taopo, 40, and Cezar Soriano, 40, of the village of Batalay in Bato, Catanduanes. They were last seen Friday.
A landslide also occurred in the village of Paraiso in San Miguel, Catanduanes.
The Virac-Viga road in Catanduanes was already impassable, Bicol civil defense director Raffy Alejandro said in the RDCC report.
In Sorsogon province, a spillway in the village of San Rafael in Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon was also impassable due to rising floods. Footpaths in the villages of San Roque, San Isidro in the same town were also flooded.
Some 40 families were already evacuated and are temporarily sheltered at the San Antonio Elementary school in Sta. Magdalena.
Alejandro said the RDCC already requested a chopper from the Philippine Air Force as requested by the Catanduanes provincial government, which intends to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration in Legazpi City said heavy rains in Bicol are caused by the tail-end of the cold front affecting the region.
She said that there is currently a gale warning over Bicol and Southern Luzon, which means these areas will experience winds gusting up to 70 kilometers per hour as induced by the surge of the northeast monsoon.
A low pressure area was spotted in the Samar area Monday morning but Samar said it was an inactive low pressure area and just a remnant of the cold front.
She said the prevailing weather from November to February is expected to be wet in the eastern side of the country especially in the coastal areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment