Typhoon Ulysses leaves 3 dead, 2 missing in Isabela

Three individuals were killed in Isabela province as Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) brought severe flooding to the Cagayan Valley Region when it devastated the country on Wednesday, November 11.

The Isabela Provincial Information Office (PIO) said Saturday, November 14, that the casualties died of drowning.

Two residents were still missing, the PIO said.

“[Police Provincial Director James Cipriano] said two people were reported drowned in Jones, Isabela and one in Benito Soliven, while two are still missing – one in Santo Tomas town and another in the City of Ilagan,” the Isabela PIO said.

The two victims of drowning who were recovered in Jones town were identified as 72-year-old Venancio Manuel, resident of the said town. A resident of Angadanan, Mark Angelo Atabug, 27, was found dead also in Jones town.

Atabug had already evacuated on November 12, but he went back to their bunkhouse near a creek. Manuel, meanwhile, went to Addalam River to locate his boat, but he failed to go back home.

In Benito Soliven town, 18-year-old Jomar Balbin, a resident of the town, “accidentally slipped off and fell off on the deep portion of floodwater.”

The two missing were identified as Arnold Natividad, 42, of Santo Tomas and Angelito Adorable, 47, of Ilagan City.

The Isabela PIO said Natividad tried to cross a flooded road last November 12 with his two brothers, but “they were swept away by the strong current of the water.” Meanwhile, Adorable allegedly went fishing with his cousin.

“Search and rescue operations are still ongoing for the missing persons,” said the Isabela PIO.

Earlier on Saturday, Isabela province was placed under a state of calamity through a resolution approved and adopted by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

“Such events brought heavy rainfall that caused rapid and extensive flooding in various areas in the province.… [C]ountless houses, crops, and farmlands were submerged, various roads and bridges became impassable, numerous establishments closed operations and a myriad of Isabeleños have been, and are still evacuated from their homes,” the resolution read. – Rappler.com