LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines (4th UPDATE) – Three people were killed when their house was hit by a landslide in this city early Saturday morning, December 29.
City officials identified the victims as Marco Alegre, 3; Mia Loreto, 20; and Mauro Alegre, 26.
Legazpi Mayor Noel Rosal said there were 13 family members who lived in the house but the 10 others survived the landslide with slight injuries. The house is located in Barangay Francisco, 25 kilometers from the city proper.
Quoting the Office of Civil Defense, Agence France-Presse reported that another woman was crushed by another landslide in Bulan town, Sorsogon, as heavy rains brought by the storm loosened the earth.
Continuous heavy rains in the area brought by Tropical Depression Usman which has enhanced the strong Northeast Monsoon or Amihan since Friday, December 28, had softened the ground, causing the landslide.
Meanwhile, Mayor Dadz Moronilla of Libon town in Albay has asked the Philippine Navy Albay Public Safely Emergency Management office to provide them with military trucks and rubber boats. Moronilla said some 120 people in the town’s Zone 7 have been marooned by deep floodwaters.
Libon is a catch basin of floods coming from Albay and Camarines Sur.
On Friday, Rosal had advised city and barangay disaster officials, and the public to be vigilant and head to safer grounds to keep them safe amid the inclement weather.
There is flooding in low-lying areas of Albay and the island province of Catanduanes.
Though Tropical Depression Usman had already weakened into a low pressure area (LPA) after making landfall in Borongan, Eastern Samar, on Saturday, more rains are expected, according to PAGASA – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com
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