WORST IS OVER FOR 'SANTI' /
'SANTI' EXITS, LEAVES 14 DEAD
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - A caretaker of the Armed Forces of the Philippines inside the North
Cemetery in Manila does his job despite the floodwaters dumped by typhoon ‘Santi.’
EDD GUMBAN |MANILA, Philippines]
MANILA, NOVEMBER 1, 2009 (STAR) By Jaime Laude - Typhoon “Santi” smashed into Metro Manila and nearby provinces overnight, causing power outages and dumping fresh rain on several areas still flooded after the recent killer storms, disaster officials said yesterday.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) declared the worst is over as Santi (international code name: Mirinae) has passed and continued its straight path out of the country into the South China Sea.
NDCC spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres warned Santi might be out of the country but the effects of the storm are still here.
“The worst is already over but we should not be complacent. We are urging the public to take the necessary precautions so as not to contract any diseases,” Torres said.
The disaster preparations ahead of Santi apparently mitigated the number of casualties as compared to tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” that ravaged much of the countryside and left over 1,000 people dead, including fatalities from disease outbreaks.
Torres said more than 115,000 people had been evacuated from vulnerable areas before Santi hit, which likely prevented more deaths, Torres said.
Initial reports, however, said Santi left 12 people dead and several others injured and missing, mostly in Bicol and the Southern Tagalog region.
Disaster officials immediately reported that seven people were killed in Camarines Norte and Catanduanes at the height of the storm.
Most of the victims were killed from trees toppling over their homes during the storm, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director Raffy Alejandro said.
Five of the fatalities from Camarines Norte were identified as Sarah Mae Vargas, Jose Ebonia, Rodrigo Rodriguez, Maria Ferrer, and Flora Estacion. The lone casualty from Catanduanes was identified as Louie Alano.
A vacationing seaman and his three-year-old son also went missing after their car fell off a bridge that was washed away by floods in Batangas during the storm.
Authorities said Romulo Soriano and his son Nicolo went missing when their car plunged downstream after the bridge collapsed due to the swelling floodwaters of the Kalumpang River.
Villagers later rescued Romulo’s wife Malou, officials said.
Electricity was also interrupted in most parts of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces as the storm toppled power lines and trees, rendering some roads impassable, Torres said.
“Unlike in the Bicol region where preemptive power shutdown was done, here in Metro Manila the (power outages were) due to the toppling of several transmission lines,” Torres said.
The typhoon also forced the cancellation of all international and local flights to and from Manila, airport manager Alfonso Cusi said.
The Manila Electric Co. reported that the strong winds brought by Santi forced power outages in many areas around Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
The Light Railway and Metro Railway commuter train services were also disrupted in Metro Manila.
Inter-island ferry services were cancelled, ruining the travel plans for many who were hoping to head to their hometowns for the All Saints’ Day long holiday weekend.
Santi also brought fresh rains over areas in Laguna and Rizal that are still inundated by floods caused by Ondoy over two weeks ago, Torres said.
Among the most affected towns in Laguna are Sta. Cruz, Pagsanjan and Lumban.
Torres said Navy and Coast Guard boats have been sent to Laguna to rescue people who were forced to clamber up to their rooftops during the typhoon.
Chief Superintendent Perfecto Palad, chief of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council in Southern Tagalog, told NDCC chairman Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro that two people drowned in Pagsanjan, another in Nagcarlan while three people went missing, two people from Pila and another from Liliw town.
The strong winds brought by the typhoon destroyed many shanties in a squatter colony at Lupang Arenda hugging the shores of Laguna de Bay.
Teodoro personally oversaw the rescue operations in Laguna as he waded in knee-deep floodwaters in Sta. Cruz.
Teodoro ordered a 24-hour relief operation for the entire province.
He also ordered the close monitoring of the highly populated Napindan floodway, an exit point of Marikina River toward Laguna de Bay.
President Arroyo also led disaster officials around Metro Manila in assessing the damage left by Santi.
Mrs. Arroyo ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Laguna Lake Development Authority to monitor the water level, particularly in Napindan.
Unlike Ondoy, Santi passed quickly overhead, on a straight and immediate path toward South China Sea. The slow-moving Ondoy dumped the heaviest rains in Metro Manila in 40 years.
Santi was last reported some 120 kilometers west southwest of Metro Manila moving at 22 kilometers per hour.
“The worst is over for Metro Manila,” declared weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz. - With Celso Amo, Arnell Ozaeta, Marvin Sy, Sheila Crisostomo, Ric Sapnu, Evelyn Macairan, Rudy Santos, AP
'Santi' exits, leaves 14 dead By Helen Flores and James Mananghaya (The Philippine Star) Updated November 02, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines – Tropical storm “Santi” (international code name Mirinae) veered away from the country yesterday after leaving 14 dead.
Santi also left several areas in Metro Manila and southern Luzon submerged in floodwaters.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said most of the casualties were from Camarines Norte and the Calabarzon.
Four people were injured, while four were reported missing as of press time.
The NDCC said Santi affected approximately 2,853 families or 13,456 individuals in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa Region and Metro Manila.
A total of 19,000 are in evacuation centers.
At Malacañang, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde attributed the minimal damage to the disaster-consciousness of the people after learning from tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng.”
“We thank our people for cooperating and by being more disaster conscious,” he said.
“We commend NDCC (National Disaster Coordinating Council) chairman (Defense Secretary Gilbert) Teodoro specially the local disaster committees for the preparation.
“Let us henceforth be more aggressive in disaster preparedness.”
President Arroyo visited the Manggahan Floodway and Napindan Spillway to check the water levels as Santi battered Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon and the Visayas on Saturday.
Both water channels overflowed when Ondoy dumped the heaviest rainfall on Metro Manila in the last 40 years and contributed to the massive flooding in Marikina and Pasig.
Mrs. Arroyo first visited the Manggahan barangay hall near the floodway, where she briefly talked to barangay chairman Bobby Bobis.
She also inspected the Napindan channel from a makeshift bamboo ramp in Barangay Napindan and from a bridge overlooking washed away homes and water lilies in Lupang Arenda, which connects the floodway and the spillway.
Originally designated as protected wetlands, the 200-hectare Lupang Arenda has been converted into a resettlement site.
In Bicol, casualties from Santi have risen to 12, the Office of Civil Defense said yesterday.
Raffy Alejandro, OCD regional director, identified the casualties mostly from Camarines Norte as Sarah Mae Vargas, Jose Edoña, Flora Estacion, Rodrigo Rodriguez, Maria Ferrer, Rogelio Rasco, Analiza de la Cruz, Louie Alano of Bagamanoc, Catanduanes and four others (two from Jose Panganiban town and one each from Daet and Paracale).
One was reported injured in Catanduanes after she was hit by a fallen tree.
Alejandro also said that about 1,507 houses were totally destroyed in the towns of Basud, Paracale, San Lorenzo, Talisay, Vinzons and Labo while another 6,441 were also partially damaged in Camarines Norte, while another 88 houses were totally destroyed in the town of Siruma and another 528 were partially damaged including five in Tinambac and one in Cabusay, all in Camarines Sur after the typhoon packing winds of 150 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 185 kilometers per hour swept through the area.
Camarines Norte Gov. Jesus Typoco is appealing for help as he placed the damaged to government infrastructure at P15,600 while corresponding damaged to houses was estimated at P6,500,000.
In Calabarzon, about 26,000 families were affected after Santi caused five landslides.
Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent Perfecto Palad said as of yesterday, 17,387 families were evacuated to 497 evacuation centers.
The other 8,661 families opted to stay at home, he added.
Palad reported to the NDCC that Santi killed six people and injured five others last Saturday.
Four people were reported missing and police have been directed to find them, he added.
Palad said Santi flooded Atimonan, Quezon, which became impassable to light vehicles.
Grotto bridge in Barangay San Miguel, Majayjay collapsed, he added.
Thousands of passengers were stranded in different ports of Calabarzon at the height of Santi, Palad said.
As of 4 a.m. today, the center of Santi was located at 450 km west southwest of Metro Manila, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of 100 kph.
It is expected to be at 970 kilometers west southwest of Metro Manila by tomorrow morning.
Public storm warning signals have been lowered, while various government agencies are focused on providing immediate relief to affected areas.
“The public response to preemptive efforts by government authorities has been largely positive,” the NDCC said.
“Cooperation among all sectors is truly the best tool we must have in disaster preparation or disaster response.
“We hope that the lessons we learned from these past tragedies will remain in everyone, to allow for better disaster preparation and better disaster response.”
The disaster preparedness measures put in place ahead of Santi have lessened the number of casualties as compared to tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” that left over 1,000 people dead.
A day after Santi brought heavy rains and winds, crews were clearing roads of fallen trees and power lines in Metro Manila and nearby provinces,
Efforts were being made to repair four bridges that collapsed in urban areas south of the metropolis, while power was slowly being restored to most of the 22 towns that were blacked out at the height of the typhoon, the Red Cross said.
“We have been told that power in most areas has been restored and in terms of flooding, the waters receded within hours,” Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general Gwen Pang told AFP.
She said a preemptive evacuation of about 115,000 people in the typhoon’s direct path to safer ground days ahead of its landfall had meant fewer casualties compared with two recent deadly storms.
As of early yesterday Santi had weakened and was located 450 kilometers southwest of Metro Manila in the South China Sea, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
In its latest update yesterday noon, the NDCC said Santi left “remarkably less damage to lives and properties” compared to two recent typhoons.
Ondoy which caused massive flooding on Sept. 26, and Pepeng, which hit a week later, together killed more than 1,100 people.
“People were more prepared and more or less knew what to do,” Pang said.
“People did not wait until it was too late to evacuate and were quickly moved away from harm’s way to safer ground.”
She said most of the more than 5,000 people who had moved into temporary shelters as Santi lashed Luzon had begun trickling back to their homes as the weather cleared yesterday.
However, relief and rehabilitation efforts will continue for the 87,000 people still packed into evacuation centers whose homes were destroyed by Ondoy and Pepeng, she said.
Even before Santi hit, outlying districts that are home to more than a million people were expected to remain flooded into the New Year, raising concern among health experts of an outbreak of disease.
“We are moving into the early recovery stage, looking at shelter requirements as well as the medical concerns of these people,” Pang said.
Santi continued to move away from the country yesterday, according to Pagasa.
However, senior weather forecaster Robert Sawi said a new low pressure area was spotted some 820 kilometers east of Luzon at 10 a.m. yesterday which may bring rains over northern and central Luzon in the next three days.
A low pressure is commonly associated with bad weather.
Sawi said the low pressure area was not expected to develop into a typhoon in the next three days.
“It will not yet develop into tropical cyclone in the next three days as it approaches northern Luzon. But it will bring rains over this area,” he said in a text message.
As of 10 a.m. yesterday, the eye of Santi was located at 610 km west southwest of Metro Manila with maximum sustained winds of 85 kph near center and gustiness of up to 100 kph.
It was forecast to move west at 20 kph.
Pagasa weather forecaster Mario Palafox said Santi was expected to leave the country yesterday and move toward Vietnam.
It was predicted to be 800 km west southwest of Metro Manila yesterday evening.
Pagasa has also lowered public storm warning signals in areas affected by Santi.
Santi brought heavy rains and winds in Metro Manila, and central and southern Luzon over the weekend, uprooting trees and cutting power lines.
Sawi said the northeast monsoon would bring rains over northern Luzon today.
The low pressure areas would bring rains over Metro Manila starting tomorrow while good weather would prevail in the rest of the country, he added.
Two typhoons are expected to enter the country this month, Sawi said. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Paolo Romero, Celso Amo, Non Alquitran, Ed Amoroso