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Five
people were killed while another one was declared
missing as Typhoon Karen battered the whole of Northern
Luzon on Tuesday, disaster officials said.
The casualties were listed just hours
after the howler made its landfall in Cagayan province
and spawned strong winds and rains that triggered
landslides in Benguet, Baguio City and in La Union.
The typhoon killed four persons in
Baguio and Benguet as strong rains caused landslides in
villages.
Tragedy struck the Sotero family in
Itogon, Benguet, when three children died after their
house was buried by landslides caused by strong rains in
the mining town.
Killed were Alvin Sotero, 11; and
brothers Mark Lester, 6; and Redjie, 1; who were pinned
down when landslide buried their house that collapsed
9:30 a.m. yesterday. They were brought to the Saint
Louis University Hospital but were already declared dead
on arrival.
In Baguio City, Petra Kadatar, 72, died
after an eroded riprap buried her house.
In another report, the Office of Civil
Defense (OCD) Region 1 said Hilario Badungan, 77, of
barangay Porporiket, Sudipen, La Union, also died in a
landslide.
Dionisio Tumamao, 50, of barangay
Nagrebcan, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, was reported
missing after he was carried away by strong currents
while crossing the Padsan River in the town.
Typhoon Karen continued to batter this
city and the neighboring Benguet province, bringing in
strong rains and winds in the past 24 hours. Signal No.
2 was raised in the city and Benguet as classes were
canceled.
The OCD noted many landslides all over
the region as early as Wednesday dawn as Karen brought
heavy rains loosening mountain tops, sending boulders
down to highways and road grids in the region.
Public works men cleared the Kennon
Road, specifically in Klondykes in Camp 3, Tuba town,
after boulders rolled down the highway Wednesday dawn,
while other government road workmen cleared a huge
landslide on the Baguio-Trinidad Road near a big hotel
here at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Public works men were also on their toes
monitoring landslides in other road grids in the
Cordillera Administrative Region, especially the very
important vegetable belt road grid (Baguio-Bontoc Road
or otherwise known as Halsema Highway) where highland
vegetables are transported from the farms to the La
Trinidad trading post in Benguet.
The OCD-Region 1 said the typhoon also
affected a total of 1, 344 families, or 4,195 persons in
45 barangays in eight towns in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur
and La Union.
Three other towns, Sarrat, Santa Cruz
and Bangar in the same provinces, were also affected by
floodings.
The report said that at least 145 houses
were under water in Sarrat.
Meanwhile, airlines canceled yesterday
domestic flights bound for Laoag and Tuguegarao due to
Karen.
The announcement covers the flights of
Philippine Airlines, PAL Express and Cebu Pacific.
The flag carrier said PR 228 flight
bound for Laoag at 5:45 p.m. and its turnaround flight
PR 229 scheduled to arrive in Manila at 7:35 p.m. were
canceled.
PAL Express, PAL’s low-fares brand, said
the Manila-Tuguegarao flight scheduled at 9:05 a.m. and
Tuguegarao-Manila flight at 10:25 a.m. were both
canceled, as well.
Cebu Pacific‘s 6 p.m. flight to Laoag
and 5:55 a.m. flight to Tuguegarao also did not take off
as scheduled yesterday.
Cebu Pacific and PAL Express use the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport 3 while PAL’s
system-wide operations still remain within Terminal 2.
--P. Lobien, M. Victa, R. Acosta and L. Lectura |
