“Hanna” leaves at least 10 dead in RP

By Ronron
October 1, 2007

Tropical storm “Hanna” has left at least 10 persons killed, mostly in the northern province of Ifugao, when it was felt in the Philippines over the weekend.

According to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), eight of the fatalities are from a landslide incident in Ifugao, another one is from a drowning incident in Abra, and the last one is due to flood in Quezon City.

The OCD in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) said the missing person in the landslide incident in Hingyon, Ifugao on Saturday night could not yet be ascertained as of Monday evening whether or not he was already recovered dead.

A nine-year-old boy was also wounded in said incident.

The CAR OCD, meanwhile, said that the fatality from Abra was identified as Dalipog Dayag, 70, of Bucloc, Abra, who died from drowning while crossing a river on Sunday afternoon after tilling a farmland.

Dayag’s dead body was found only yesterday (Monday) morning in the adjacent town of Sallapadan.

The fatality from Quezon City, on the other hand, was identified as Richard Añonuevo, 25, who died after getting submerged in a flood in Bagong Silang in Payatas, the OCD said in its report yesterday.

There was no mention about the date of the incident.

The OCD said a total of 2,532 families or 12,515 families were affected by “Hanna,” of whom 225 families or 1,037 families have been evacuated.

The affected persons come from Regions VI, X, XII, CAR and the National Capital Region, where “Hanna” brought in rains induced by the southwest monsoon.

A total of two houses, both from Hingyon, Ifugao, were totally destroyed due to lansdlide, while 32 others - three from Kalinga province and 29 from Sarangani province - were partially damaged due to landslide and big waves, respectively.

The OCD said an estimated P10.68 million worth of infrastructure was damaged by “Hanna,” which include the following: two communal irrigation systems (Tab-taba and Wa-it) in Lubuagan, Kalinga; farm-to-market road in Barangay Ginaang, Pasil, Kalinga; a chapel and barangay hall in Malapatan, Sarangani; a protection dike in Barangay Lingagao, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental; and a drainage along the highway of Poblacion Catarman in Camiguin.

Just as “Hanna” has already left the country, the national weather station issued on Monday a tropical cyclone alert with the development of Tropical Depression “Ineng.”

Quoting the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA), the OCD said “Ineng” was located east of northeastern Luzon yesterday afternoon./DMS