STORM IMPACT. The landslide site in Can-ipa village, Baybay City, Leyte in this April 10, 2022, photo. Retrieval is ongoing for a family of five buried in a landslide. (Contributed photo)

 

MANILA – The onslaught of Tropical Depression Agaton has caused over a dozen deaths in Baybay, Leyte, mostly due to landslides, an official of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Monday.

 

NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said official reports show that "Agaton" left three persons dead, one missing and two injured.

 

But citing unofficial reports from Baybay, Jalad said 14 persons were dead and five missing at Barangay Bunga in Baybay.

 

"But we have received an unofficial report in Baybay, Leyte saying that there are already 14 dead and five missing there, while in Barangay Bunga, also in Baybay, there are 20 missing, in Barangay Mailhi, there are also 11 dead. 

We are also looking at Barangay Kantagnos, although there is only one death reported there, based on unofficial reports a wide area is affected," Jalad said during a Cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

 

Quoting reports of Baybay City Mayor Jose Carlos Cari to the Office of Civil Defense, Jalad said many of those who died were due to the landslides triggered by "Agaton".

 

" That was the report of the Baybay mayor to the OCD Mr. President, although this is still not indicated yet in the situational reports," he added.

 

Jalad, who is also Civil Defense administrator, said search-and-rescue and retrieval operations are ongoing, being carried out by the military, police, and personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire, and local response units.

 

The NDRRMC Operations Center is keeping a tight watch over the situation in Region 8, particularly in Baybay, Leyte.

 

In the same meeting, Jalad said that 224 areas in Regions 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have experienced incidents of flash floods and floodings. (PNA)

 

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"many of those who died were due to the landslides triggered by "Agaton"."

 

and certainly not linked to the continuing deforestation to build villages on hillsides........