Two days of heavy flooding and landslides killed at least 11 people as tropical storm Seniang crossed the central Philippines yesterday, with water in some areas “neck deep,” officials said.
Seniang, which was forecast to bring up to 15 millimeters of rain per hour, barreled through fishing and tourist areas yesterday, with about 1,700 people evacuated ahead of its arrival.
Five people were killed after a landslide buried a house in Tanauan town, Leyte province, regional civil defense spokeswoman Blanche Gobenciong said.
Photo: Reuters
“We are focused on floods and landslides because, while the storm’s winds are weak, it will bring heavy rain,” national civil defense chief Alexander Pama told DZMM radio.
An eight-year-old girl drowned after raging floodwaters washed away her family’s shanty home in the coastal town of Ronda in Cebu province, regional civil defense officer Allen Cabaron said, adding that six of the girl’s housemates are missing.
Two teenage boys died from electrocution while wading through floodwaters in Loon in Bohol province, Cabaron added.
Rivers burst their banks, covering roads and highways in knee-deep floods that washed out bridges and stalled vehicles, Cabaron said, adding that floods in some areas were “neck-deep.”
The deluge was set to subside in Cebu and Bohol later in the day, but flooding was possible on Negros Island further west, which is in the storm’s path, he said.
On Monday, at least three people were killed after tropical storm Seniang slammed into the country’s mountainous southeastern region, triggering floods and landslides.
Up to 14,000 people evacuated in Surigao del Sur, where Seniang first hit, were to be sent home yesterday as floodwaters recede, Surigao del Sur Governor Johnny Pimentel told reporters.
Ten flights to and from the affected areas were canceled yesterday, the Manila airport authority said in a statement.
Seniang is to be out of the central region after midnight today, before brushing the southern tip of Palawan island on its way out of the country tomorrow, the state-run weather bureau said.
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