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TROPICAL
storm Cosme battered the whole of Northern and Central
Luzon and triggered rains in other parts of the country
Saturday, causing power shortages and telecommunications
disruptions, though initial reports could not say yet
the extent of displacement of people in flooded areas.
At press
time, just a little more than 1,000 families were
reported displaced, but officials expected the number to
rise substantially as reports from the field begin
pouring in, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)
reported Sunday.
Office
of the Civil Defense deputy administrator and NDCC
spokesman Anthony Golez said they were also verifying
reports that two persons were injured in Baguio City.
Overnight rains generated by Cosme triggered coastal
surge, heavy floodings and even landslides in the
provinces of Iloilo, Zambales, Pangasinan and Baguio
City, the NDCC reported, as of 3 p.m. Sunday.
The
storm also toppled trees and power lines in the Ilocos
region and Central Luzon, putting under total or partial
blackout the provinces of Pangasinan, Zambales, Tarlac
and Baguio City. The NDCC said it could take a month
before power is restored in Pangasinan, the hardest-hit,
along with Zambales.
Thousands of families in Pangasinan lost their homes as
Typhoon Cosme battered Northern Luzon starting from
early Saturday evening.
Dagupan City
and most parts of the province were plunged into
darkness as power lines were cut by falling trees.
The
Dagupan City Electric Corp. said it may take as long as
two months to restore full electricity supply in the
city owing to the extent of the damage wrought by Cosme
on power lines and other facilities.
However,
Mayor Alipio Fernandez has not declared a state of
calamity in the city.
Power
went out all over
Baguio
since 9 p.m. Saturday as falling trees and electric
posts downed electric distribution. Internet and phone
services were also disrupted, dampening the holidays of
foreign and local tourists alike in the City of
Pines. Two casualties—Roger Damaso, 28, and Harvey Sevilla,
23—were reported as having been hit by fallen trees in
separate incidents.
Certain
major roads were closed for being at risk of landslides
and being blocked by fallen trees:
Kennon Road,
the Baguio-Bontoc and Banawe Roads and the
Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mt. Province Road.
The
total damage to roads in Cordillera was initially placed
at P2.56 million, according to the Cordillera Disaster
Coordinating Council.
In
Iloilo, a total of 1, 167 families living in the
barangays of Dumangas, Pavia and Lambunao were affected
by heavy flooding and landslides.
The NDCC
said a total of 212 families were also affected in
Zambales, but Gov. Amor Deloso said this could still
increase as majority of the town of Sta. Cruz alone was
submerged in water, affecting its 7,000 families.
In an
interview with radio dzBB, he said all of the barangays
of the town were 70-percent to 80-percent flooded, with
more than 7, 000 houses destroyed.
The NDCC
said12 fishing boats were also damaged by strong coastal
surge in the town of Iba, still in the province.
In La
Trinidad, Benguet and in Baguio City, minor landslides
were also reported to have occurred while several roads
in the Visayas, Occidental Mindoro, Ilocos Norte,
Kalinga and in Pangasinan were temporarily closed due to
floodings.
The NDCC said that local and provincial government
officials along with the Department of Social Welfare
and Development have been attending to the affected
families. (R. Acosta, J. Manaois, I. Abaño) |
