CAUAYAN town Mayor John Rey Tabujara said about 15 residents of Kabankalan City, in Negros Occidental who were having an excursion in a beach resort in the locality, were rescued during the heavy downpour brought about by Super Typhoon “Karding” on Sunday, September 26, 2022.
"They were able to go home safe and sound and all were accounted for after they were stranded and rescued by the local rescue group," Tabujara said.
Meanwhile, the flooding in Barangay Calling affected 200 individuals, the mayor said.
Of the affected individuals, 15 families, or 32 individuals, were evacuated as flood waters spilled over rivers into the national highway, rice fields, and their houses.
Aside from Caliling, the Bureau of Fire Protection also reported that they have conducted evacuation and rescue operations in the town’s Barangay Inayawan.
The local government reported that evacuees have already returned to their homes as of yesterday after they temporarily stayed at the barangay’s covered court.
For his part, Provincial Administrator lawyer Rayfrando Diaz II said the provincial government will send assistance to the affected families.
Board Member Julius Martin Asistio, who is the president of the Philippine Councilor's League - Negros Occidental, has also sent assistance like canned goods to the affected individuals.
In Sagay City, Jojie Ayo, 33, of Eusebio Heights in the city’s Barangay Paraiso, drowned at the Himoga-an River at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Witnesses claimed that said victim was seen swimming in a shallow portion of river with his backpack and later failed to surface.
Major Roberto Indiape, chief of Sagay City police, said that the victim reportedly was not in his proper mental state.
Indiape said the victim, who was also observed to be intoxicated, died upon arrival at the Alfredo Marañon District Memorial Hospital.
Moreover, the bad weather caused by the typhoon halted classes in several areas in the province and also resulted in the suspension of trips bound for Batangas and Manila at the Bredco port in Bacolod City.
Although as of 8 a.m. Monday, sea travel has already resumed. Some local government units also declared resumption of classes and work.
As for sea vessels plying within Negros Occidental and Panay routes, their operations were not suspended.
In a related development, Super Typhoon Karding left six people dead and knocked down power in two entire provinces in Luzon, trapping villagers in floods and forcing officials to suspend classes and government work in and around the capital.
The most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year slammed ashore in Burdeos town in Quezon province before nightfall on Sunday, September 25, then weakened as it barreled overnight across the main Luzon region, where more than 52,000 people were moved to emergency shelters, some forcibly, officials said.
Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando said five rescuers, who were using a boat to help residents trapped in floodwaters, were hit by a collapsed wall then apparently drowned in the rampaging waters.
“They were living heroes who were helping save the lives of our countrymen in the calamity,” Fernando told dzMM radio network.
“This is really very sad,” he said, adding that assistance will be provided to the victims’ bereaved families.
He said over 2,000 families were evacuated across Bulacan province, particularly in the municipalities of Doña Remedios Trinidad, San Miguel, San Ildefonso, San Rafael and Obando.
He said floods were still high in these areas along with several villages in the municipalities of Angat, Hagonoy, Balagtas and Bocaue.
Police said a Bulacan villager also drowned after refusing to heed appeals to leave his riverside house.
Authorities were separately trying to confirm another death in Burdeos town and a missing farmer in a flooded village in western Zambales province.
In Aurora province's hard-hit Dingalan town, more than 6,000 houses were damaged and a newly built evacuation center housing more 200 displaced families was battered by the fierce wind and rain but no injuries were reported, officials said.
About 3,000 people were evacuated to safety in Metro Manila, which was lashed by fierce wind and rain overnight.
Classes and government work were suspended Monday in the capital and outlying provinces as a precaution although the morning skies were sunny.
The entire northern provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were hit by the typhoon, remained without power Monday and repair crews were at work to bring back electricity, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a televised meeting after the latter called to assess damage and coordinate disaster-response.
Marcos Jr. praised officials for evacuating tens of thousands of people before the typhoon hit, preventing more deaths, but expressed concern at how Karding and another storm that devastated central and southern provinces in December rapidly intensified into super typhoons.
“Is this climate change?” Marcos Jr., who took office in June, asked.
“We have kept watching these storms for a long time but it wasn’t like this before... This is something I have to deal with,” he said.
Marcos later joined an aerial inspection of typhoon-hit provinces in the rice-growing region, where many villages and stretches of roads remained flooded.
“Karding” underwent an “explosive intensification” over the open Pacific Ocean before it hit the Philippines, said Vicente Malano, who heads the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
From sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (53 mph) on Saturday, Karding was a super typhoon just 24 hours later with sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 240 kilometers per hour (149 mph) at its peak late Sunday.
By Monday noon, “Karding” had sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph) and gusts of 160 kph (99 mph) and was moving northwest in the South China Sea toward Vietnam, according to Pagasa. (with reports from Sunstar Philippines)