Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Lando uproots P11M in crops
AS STORM winds whipped Cebu, a 10-year-old girl and her aunt were making their way across Toong river to go home last Monday afternoon. But a surge of water swept away the girl, carrying her more than 20 kilometers.
Scavengers at the Inayawan dumpsite found Agnes L. Tabay’s body in a grassy area along the dumpsite in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City at 6 a.m. yesterday. She was lying face down and no longer had clothes on.
Tabay was identified by her aunt Cleofe Abelgas, who rushed to the dumpsite after receiving reports about the discovery of a girl’s body.
The 10-year-old girl was the only known fatality of tropical storm Lando, which caught Cebu by surprise Monday afternoon.
A fisherman was reported missing and P11.2 million worth of crops in Bantayan Island were destroyed by the fast-moving storm, the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) 7 said yesterday.
At the height of the storm, a motorboat carrying foreign tourists on an island-hopping trip capsized near the shoreline in one of Lapu-Lapu City’s island barangays. But the Cebu Coast Guard did not receive any report on the sea mishap.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported that 276 passengers were stranded, while 24 vessels were kept from leaving port last Monday.
The Cebu City-based RDCC 7 also got preliminary reports of landslides and swollen rivers in Oriental Negros and Bohol provinces, forcing residents to move to safer grounds.
The lone fatality, Tabay, had just got off from classes at the Toong Elementary School and was being carried on Abelgas’ back in crossing the river when she lost her grip. She was swept four barangays away, from the mountain barangay of Toong to the coastal village of Inayawan.
The RDDC 7 still had to get complete details from disaster councils of local government units in Central Visayas on the damage Lando caused.
Start over
Initial reports said the storm inflicted severe damage on corn crops covering about 11,250 hectares in 16 barangays of Bantayan, an island town at the northern tip of Cebu.
Damage was pegged at P11.25 million.
But Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she will task the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office to look into the damage and make its own assessment.
“We will be assisting the farmers, perhaps, in starting all over again,” Garcia told reporters yesterday.
The towns of Sogod and Compostela also reported huge losses in their crops.
Talisay City reported landslides at Corona del Mar, Sitio Cabutoy, Barangay Jaclupan and in Barangay Manipis. The same thing happened in Panas, Consolacion; Santicon, Manlapay and Mantalungon in Dalaguete; and Buhing Tubig in Pinamungajan.
No casualties reported in the province, only injuries.
One person was taken to the hospital in Compostela town because of a broken leg after a falling tree hit him. A child was pinned down by uprooted acacia trees in Barangay Soong, Lapu-Lapu City. He suffered abrasions.
Other municipalities reported flooding.
Evacuated
Minglanilla town had to evacuate at least 40 families from Barangays Lower Calahuan and Lower Pakigne after the Calahuan River overflowed.
In Naga, 12 families were moved to a complex due to flooding near the Tinaan bridge.
Other areas that experienced flooding were in Naghalin, Catmon; Sitio Suba, Poblacion, Sibonga; Barangays Cudcud and Tayud in Liloan; Barangay Otso, Tabuelan; Barangay Otso, Tuburan and in front of the municipal hall of Aloguinsan.
Governor Garcia tasked social welfare officers to identify families affected by the storm and asked to prepare canned goods and rice for them.
But she did not blame the weather bureau for the lack of a more accurate advisory.
“Let us try to give as much understanding to those concerned working under severe constraints. Pag-asa is trying to do the best it can, mao ganing naay gitawag og unpredictable as the weather,” Garcia said.
The Cebu Provincial Police Office was one of the units affected by the storm. Since 4 p.m. Monday, they had no electricity.
Cut off
The Operations Branch, which receives reports from all the police stations and units under the CPPO, was unable to get situation reports on the storm because their radios and fax machines would not function.
CPPO also failed to prepare yesterday’s daily journal and submit it to the Regional Operations and Plans Division because of the power outage.
Operations personnel had to call up each police station one by one to get initial reports.
They received reports of landslides in Barangay Banhigan, Dalaguete, with some cracks on the road.
The Transcentral Highway, specifically in the areas between Barangays Cansumuroy and Gaas in Balamban, also had landslides.
Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay advised all motorists not to pass the highway’s C-road.
Cleared
Two motorboats, the King of the Sea and Normal Paul, also reportedly sank but had no casualties.
Unlike Cebu City, Talisay reported only minor landslides and damage.
A disaster team rushed to Sitio Kabutoy of Barangay Pook and removed GI sheets that blocked the flow of water in a creek.
The GI sheets, which served as a temporary fence of a neighboring posh subdivision, caused the water to overflow, endangering several residents in Kabutoy’s low-lying area, said Mayor Socrates Fernandez.
Fernandez said the storm damaged a house in the hilly village of Barangay Camp 6. No one was reported injured.
City Hall also dispatched heavy equipment to clear the highway in Barangays Lagtang and Jaclupan, which was partially rendered impassable because of landslides. (JST/GC/MEA/JGA)
