APD | Three dead in landslide as heavy rains continue to affect Bicol Region in the Philippines

By APD writer Melo M. Acuna

LEGAZPI CITY, Dec.29 (APD) – At least three persons died including a three-year old boy when heavy rains brought a small hill crashing on a small house at 1:23 A.M. today.

Reports from the Philippine National Police Regional Office No. 5 said the other victims were believed to be parents of the three-year old fatality. Search and Rescue personnel from the local police station lave conducted retrieval operations at daybreak today.

The latest weather disturbance to hit the flood-prone Bicol Region sent nearly 2,000 individuals to evacuation centers.

Tropical Depression “Usman” stranded about 10,000 passengers in Sorsogon, Masbate, Camarines Sur, Albay and Catanduanes provinces as of 8:00 A.M. today with some 782 vehicles and 27 ships of various tonnage.

“Usman” with maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour and gustiness of 65 kilometers per hour destroyed some 30 homes, most of which were made of light materials and its rains flooded 66 areas across the region and rendered a bridge and four road sections unpassable due to and structural damage and landslides.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)