240 rescued from isolated Leyte villages

MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) - More than 200 people were airlifted from 2 barangays in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte Thursday after landslides isolated the villages for the past 4 days. Two helicopters from the Philippine Air Force rescued some 240 people including children and the elderly who were trapped in barangays Mahayagat and Tabon-Tabon after pounding rains, deep floods and landslides battered the area.


St. Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza said the 2 villages are high-risk areas that are now only accessible by helicopter.





"The helicopters were already available yesterday but there was zero visibility so we were only able to resume operations today," he said.


The mayor earlier declared a state of calamity in the town after 5 children died last Sunday at the height of incessant rains in Southern Leyte.


Rentuza said there is a need to update geohazard maps in Saint Bernard town to include villages such as Barangay Bolodbolod. He said villages such as Bolodbolod are more prone to floods than landslides,


He said the local government has already people from inhabiting areas in permanent danger of landslides.


Rosalinda Araneta, public information committee chairman of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said heavy rains and floods damaged agricultural areas in 25 out of 30 barangays in Saint Bernard. Estimated damage to agriculture was at P5.3 million.


Floods and landslides also damaged an estimated P11.7 million worth of infrastructure support facilities.

Death toll reaches 25

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Thursday said the death toll from the landslides and floods in various parts of the country has now reached 25.

Over 92,000 families in 7 regions have been affected by the rains, with the Caraga region having the highest number of affected population.

The floods and landslides were triggered by heavy rains due to the tail end of a cold front late last year.

President Benigno S. Aquino III earlier ordered the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to conduct a thorough review of the country’s disaster risk reduction measures to minimize loss of lives during calamities especially in communities.

The President, in an ambush interview during the Philippine Navy command turnover rites, noted that in spite of his earlier directive for concerned agencies to evacuate residents in risk areas , there were still casualties.

“Today , I asked the Secretary of National Defense, being the head of the NDRRMC, to find out exactly why there were two people who died in the same place, “ he said referring to St. Bernard in Southern Leyte , where over a thousand residents died when flashfloods hit the community in 2006.


source: abs-cbnnews.com/