‘Usman’ death toll hits 85

Deadly storm Rescuers carry one of the bodies retrieved in a landslide in Bicol area, triggered by heavy rains dumped by tropical depression “Usman.” Authorities said they have received reports of at least 85 fatalities as a result of the storm. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO">Deadly storm Rescuers carry one of the bodies retrieved in a landslide in Bicol area, triggered by heavy rains dumped by tropical depression “Usman.” Authorities said they have received reports of at least 85 fatalities as a result of the storm. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

As rescuers rush aid to landslide-stricken areas, official reports of the country’s disaster authority said at least 85 persons were reported dead due to the storm “Usman,” with at least 20 others still missing and 40 injured.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) clarified the casualty figure is still subject to validation or verification and that Usman’s tally of victims may still rise.

“Usman’s” death toll may even surpass that of super typhoon “Ompong” which killed 82 people when it battered the country in September 2018.

NDRRMC said a total of 45,348 families in 457 barangays in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Regions V and VIII were affected by the storm. As of yesterday, some 24,000 people remained in evacuation centers across the affected areas.

The storm, which made landfall on 29 December 2018 in the vicinity of Borongan, Eastern Samar also caused an estimated P342 million in damage to agriculture in Region V, particularly in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate.

In Sagñay, Camarines Sur, where landslides buried at least 50 houses, authorities recovered 30 bodies and were no longer hoping to pull out survivors, the municipal disaster office said.

Landslides have cut off roads leading to Sagñay’s Sitio Garang, Barangay Patitinan, forcing disaster and coast guard officials to attempt reaching the village by boat.

Delivery of relief goods to four barangays in Albay province is also hampered by landslides, according to Gov. Francis Bichara.

It may take up about a week to clear roads blocked by landslides and make them passable once again, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

According to DPWH, roads in Sta. Elena and some towns in Labo, Camarines Norte are blocked. Likewise, roads in Tiwi in Albay and the Daang Maharlika in Camarines Sur also remained unpassable due to landslides.

As of 1 January, Tuesday, Usman’s initial cost of damage to infrastructure in Bicol region alone was estimated at P175 million.

Meanwhile, 1-CARE partylist Rep. Carlos Roman Uybarreta appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to impose price controls on fuel and other basic commodities in the Bicol and Eastern Visayas region after the destruction left by “Usman.”

“I ask President Duterte to declare a state of calamity covering Bicol and Eastern Visayas and to order the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Interior and Local Government to implement price controls for at least six months to allow affected residents to recover,” Uybarreta said.

He added that local prices should remain at levels as at least before Usman entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, but the DTI should also factor in normal price increases during the Christmas season when it determines the price ceilings.