At least three landslides occurred at the home province of House Speaker Lord Alan Velasco during the onslaught of tropical storm ‘Ofel,’ which also resulted in the forced evacuation of hundreds of families in the southern part of Luzon and some parts of the Visayas.
Mark Timbal, of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said all the roads that had been blocked by landslides in the towns of Torrijos, Bocboc, and Pili in Marinduque had already been cleared and were passable to all types of vehicles as of Thursday morning, Oct. 15.
He said there were no reported evacuees in Marinduque.
But Timbal added that a total of 158 families were evacuated in Oriental Mindoro, especially from the towns of Puerto Galera, Bulalacao, Calapan, and Baco.
On the other hand, a total of 134 families were also evacuated in some parts of Quezon, Batangas, and Laguna due to flooding brought by the weather disturbance.
In Cebu City, hundreds of people were also forced to flee their homes due to flash floods. The same occurred in some parts of Bicol.
“With the weather improving, a number of evacuated families had started to return to their homes,” said Timbal.
Five people were initially reported to have died as a result of ‘Ofel’ but Timbal said they are yet to confirm if the deaths were storm-related.
Three of the fatalities were in Iloilo, involving three children who drowned when the water in the river suddenly rose, while the two others were from Cebu City.