Two more people were killed due to the combined effects of Tropical Storm “Crising” and the southwest monsoon (habagat), pushing the death toll to five, while the number of individuals affected by the bad weather jumped to 800,000, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Monday, July 21.

A report from the NDRRMC showed a total of 225,985 families or 800,864 individuals were affected by Crising and habagat in Ilocos (Region 1), Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Central Luzon (Region 3),  Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B), Bicol (Region 5), Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7), Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Davao (Region 11), Soccsksargen (Region 12), Caraga (Region 13), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Negros Island Region (NIR).

It said three of the fatalities were logged in Region 10, while one death each was recorded in Region 11 and Region 13.

The NDRRMC said two of the fatalities have already been confirmed by local DRRM officers (LDRRMOs). One of them was a 15-year-old girl who was struck by a buli (palm) tree while she was inside their house in Sitio Balintawak, Brgy. Poblacion, Mambajao, Camiguin.

Another confirmed fatality was a 21-year-old young man who was hit by an uprooted tree along Sitio P-Masigla, Barangay Matinao, Mainit, Surigao del Norte. According to the NDRRMC, he was riding his motorcycle on his way home after picking up seeds from a friend’s house for an upcoming tree-planting activity when he was struck by the debris.

“Puro allegedly nahulugan ng debris dahil sa bagyo. Delikado po talaga kapag may loose materials tayo or malapit tayo sa mga area na may bagay na pwedeng mahulog (All of them were due to alleged falling debris caused by the storm. It’s really dangerous when there are loose materials or when we’re near areas with objects that could fall),” Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Officer-in-Charge Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said.

Seven persons were also missing: three each in Region 6 and National Capital Region (NCR), and one in Region 4B. Alejandro said those missing were swept away by raging floodwaters. There were also five injured individuals: three in Region 12 and two in Region 10.

Around 90,000 individuals were displaced by the typhoon, including 20,000 individuals who were staying in 319 evacuation centers and 70,000 others who went to their relatives or friends’ homes.

Majority of those displaced were reported in Negros Island with 59,000; Region 4B with 13,000; Region 7 with 4,000; and Region 3 with 2,700.

Despite the improved weather, the NDRRMC said 138 barangays remained flooded, most of which were in Region 3 with 105 villages still submerged in floodwater.

“Napupuntahan naman sila dahil hindi naman sila totally isolated. Nagreresponde naman ang LGUs [local government units] natin (They can still be reached because they’re not totally isolated. Our local government units are responding),” Alejandro said.

The OCD-NDRRMC has provided a total of P50 million worth of relief assistance, including food and non-food items, to 63,000 families.

“Maganda naman ang responde ng LGUs natin. Sana maimprove pa although kailangan mas maganda ang ating early warning, magcooperate pa lalo itong areas na tinamaan kasi mayroon pa pong parating na isang bagyo. In fact, dalawa pa ito hanggang matapos ‘yung buwan na sinasabi ng PAG-ASA [Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration] (The response of our LGUs has been good. Hopefully, it can still be improved, especially our early warning systems. The affected areas also need to cooperate more because there’s another typhoon coming. In fact, PAG-ASA says there might be two more before the month ends),” Alejandro said.

“Mga one or two days tayong magkakaroon ng magandang weather at magkakaroon ng tuluy-tuloy na pag-ulan sarting Wednesday or Thursday. Tuluy-tuloy ang preparasyon at paghahanda natin (We’ll have good weather for about one or two days, and then continuous rain is expected starting Wednesday or Thursday. Our preparations and readiness efforts are ongoing),” he added.

Strong winds and heavy rains also caused damage to 1,234 houses. Of the number, 935 houses were partially damaged while 299 others were totally destroyed. Most of the damaged homes were reported in Negros Island with 284; Region 9 with 237; and Region 6 with 176.

The NDRRMC said the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure amounted to P219 million as 44 infrastructures were damaged, most of which were in Region 1 with P166.5 million, and Region 6 with P52.87 million.

Meanwhile, the cost of damage to agriculture was being validated by the NDRRMC with the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Alejandro said the OCD has coordinated with the local government of Baguio City to investigate a rockfall incident on Kennon Road last July 19 which killed a pet dog and destroyed a private car.

“Kailangan po tignan ‘yan dahil highly populated area po itong nangyaring rockslide kaya dire-diretso sa isang bahay so titignan natin kung bakit nagkaroon ng activity na ganyan (That needs to be looked into because the rockslide happened in a highly populated area and [a boulder] went straight into a house so we’ll have to investigate why such an incident occurred),” he said.

According to Mr. Albert Mogul, regional director of OCD-Cordillera Administrative Region, a private contractor was building a memorial park in the upper portion of Kennon Road and that was where the boulder came from.

“Natrace namin ito na may activity sa taas, may private contractor na nagdedevelop allegedly ng memorial park. Matagal na pong nag-e-exist itong memorial park so siguro nag-e-expand sila (We traced that an activity was occurring in [Kennon Road’s] upper part, where a private contractor is allegedly developing a memorial park. This memorial park has been around for a while so they’re probably expanding it),” Mogul said.

“If you are particular with Loakan Airport, ito po ay nandoon sa dulo ng airstrip at ang baba nito ay Kennon Road (this is located at the end of the airstrip and below it is Kennon Road),” he added.

The OCD-CAR has coordinated with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to determine if the private contractor has secured an environmental permit for the project. He said the OCD-CAR has requested for the complete stoppage of the development project for a full assessment.

Mogul said a slope protection should have been installed by the developers first before they proceeded with the project.

“Pero siguro ongoing itong activity and ginagawa nila ‘yung slope protection. Tapos biglang tuluy-tuloy ang ulan so na-saturate ang lupa and nagkaroon ng pagcollapse kasama na ‘yung bato (But it seems the activity was ongoing, and they were working on slope protection. Then continuous heavy rain came, saturating the soil, which led to a collapse along with the rocks),” he explained.