'Auring' leaves 1 dead, hundreds evacuated

MANILA - The first tropical storm to hit the country this year has exited the Philippine territory but not without leaving one person dead and hundreds evacuated from their homes, the state disaster agency reported Saturday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) identified the casualty as a certain Pedro Francisco, 35, resident of Barangay Iraan, Rizal, Palawan, the province where Tropical Storm 'Auring' made landfall on Friday.

The agency said Francisco died after getting hit by an uprooted coconut tree.

The NDRRMC also said 100 families or 500 people in Quezon, Bukidnon were evacuated after continuous moderate rains triggered a flash flood incident in the area.

Earlier, the agency reported that 791 families or 1,405 people in Valencia City, Bukidnon, Dipolog City and Palawan were evacuated preemptively due to the tropical storm.

Flashflood incidents were earlier reported in Asuncion, Davao del Norte and in two villages in Quezon, Palawan.

High water levels due to the rains brought by Auring rendered several roads and bridges impassable: Malatgao Section, Bataraza in Palawan; Kalikan, Pinan Bridge in the Zamboanga peninsula; and Katipunan National Highway, Mia Sans Dicayo Bridge, Piao and Tangian Bridge in the Davao region.

As of Saturday morning, some areas in Palawan including Puerto Princesa City, Aborlan, Brookes Point and Quezon are experiencing power interruption.

But while Auring is now out of the Philippine territory, the state weather bureau has monitored a brewing storm near the country.

At 2 a.m. Saturday, a low pressure area (LPA) was estimated at 1,110 kilometers east of Mindanao, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Pagasa said the LPA is embedded along the Intertropical Convergence Zone affecting Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon is affecting Northern Luzon while Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, the provinces devastated by Typhoon Pablo, will be cloudy with occasional light to moderate rains, Pagasa said. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)