20 reported dead, 6 injured, 1 missing due to Agaton: NDRRMC

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - The number of reported deaths due to Tropical Storm Agaton has risen to 20, with 6 injured and 1 person reported missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Tuesday.

NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said the new death toll includes fatalities from a landslide in Baybay, Leyte, where 14 people died.

"The rest are from other areas specifically in Mindanao. These were drowning victims in those other areas," he told ANC's Headstart.

But according to the Philippine Army, 10 more people also died in Baybay.

The 802nd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army said in a social media post that authorities found 14 cadavers in Barangay Mailhi, five in Barangay Kantagnos, two in Barangay Maypatag, and one each in Barangays Candadam, Pangasugan, and Bunga.

It added that at least 28 people were also missing and 105 were injured in the city.

The NDRRMC said 17,070 people have fled their homes and stayed in evacuation centers in the Bicol region, the Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao region, Caraga and the Bangsamoro Region.

Initial cost of agricultural damage was pegged at P900,000 and infrastructure damage at P250,000, it added.

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In Guiuan, Eastern Samar, 6,458 families were affected according to Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan. These families remained in their homes, she said.

There were no reported landslides while electricity in some areas remained up until midnight, she added.

"Sa ngayon po, medyo maayos-ayos na po, wala ng pag-ulan. But we are alarmed kasi babalik ang Agaton sa Guiuan 5 a.m. to April 13, kaya we're again preparing for the comeback," she said.

(Right now, there's no longer rain. But we are alarmed because Agaton will return to Guiuan from 5 a.m. until tomorrow, so we're again preparing for the comeback.)

The local government has prepared 5,000 food packs in addition to the 5,000 it requested from the social welfare department, the mayor said. However, local officials cannot distribute the aid due to the election ban, she said.

Local authorities are urged to immediately file a petition to be exempted from the ban without complete documents if the aid distribution is due to a calamity, Commission on Elections commissioner George Garcia had said.

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In Ormoc City in Leyte, some 600 families or nearly 3,000 individuals have been evacuated, according to mayor Richard Gomez.

The local government has given food packs to evacuees while the Philippine Red Cross is providing hot meals, Gomez said.

Flooding was reported in 17 barangays while initial cost of infrastructure damage was estimated at P260 million, and P47 million in agricultural damage, he said.

There has been no reported deaths yet while electricity in the whole city is "in and out" depending on the strength of the winds and rain, the mayor added.

"What's difficult about this is because, the typhoon is, it never left the Visayas area. We were hoping that by today, everything would clear up. But umikot lang siya from (it just circled around) Leyte, Cebu," he said.

"Up to now, the typhoon if you're looking in the weather app, it’s just going around the Visayas area, 'di pa siya umaalis (it hasn't left yet). According to the forecast, it will be here until maybe tonight."

RAINFALL AMOUNT

Agaton dumped more than one month's worth of rainfall in some PAGASA stations, said ABS-CBN Weather Specialist Ariel Rojas, citing information from the government weather bureau.

From April 9 to 11, VISCA Baybay City Agrometeorological Station recorded 908.2 millimeters of precipitation or almost 8 times as much as the rainfall in the same station for the month of April, Rojas said.

On April 9, the amount of rainfall recorded in Guiuan, Eastern Samar was 207.8 millimeters, which is also more than the rainfall for April in the same station.

On Sunday, 138.0 millimeters was recorded in Juban, Sorsogon station.

On Monday, rainfall amount in Roxas City, Capiz was at 172.0 millimeters - almost thrice as the April rainfall in the area.

DOH RESPONSE

The Department of Health has prepositioned P6.1 million worth of medicines, medical supplies, and health kits in the Bicol region, the Visayas and Northern Mindanao, its spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

The health agency also has P55.7 million worth of logistics prepositioned in its regional warehouses in the Bicol region, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Northern Mindanao, Vergeire added.

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