Landslides, flooding isolate nine villages in Southern Leyte

Heavy rains brought by tropical storm Caloy triggered landslides and flooding in the town of Sogod in Southern Leyte, GMA 7’s “Saksi" reported Thursday night. Southern Leyte Governor Rosette Lerias said the landslides and floodwaters isolated nine of the 45 barangays (villages) of the town. Among the isolated the villages are San Juan, Agas-agas, Concepcion 1 and Concepcion II. The Agas-agas Road and the Dampoy Bridge were closed to all types of vehicles, the report said. Residents near Subang Daku River were advised to evacuate as the water level continued to rise due to the heavy downpour that began early Thursday morning. Southern Leyte has been repeatedly hit by killer landslides, which have claimed hundreds of lives. Badly hit on Feb. 12 were Barangay Agas-agas in Sogod town, where seven people were buried alive, and Barangay Guinsaugon in St. Bernard on Feb. 17, where more than a thousand people were killed when a mudslide covered the whole village with mud and big boulders. In December 2003, some 150 people died in landslides that hit San Ricardo and San Francisco towns, also in Southern Leyte. SIGNAL NO. 3 Tropical Storm Caloy (International code name Chanchu) gained strength and was off the eastern coast of Northern Samar at 11 p.m. Thursday, the weather bureau said in its bulletin Thursday night. Tropical storm Signal No. 3 has been raised over Sorsogon, Albay, Catanduanes and Northern and Eastern Samar. By early morning Friday "Caloy" is expected to make landfall over Northern Samar before reaching Sorsogon and Albay later in the day. By Friday evening the tropical storm will be in the vicinity of Quezon province, the weather bureau said. The tropical storm has an estimated maximum sustained wind of 110 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 140 kph, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. Signal No. 2 has been raised over Masbate, Burias Island, Romblon, Marinduque, Camarines Provinces, Southern Quezon, Pollilo Island, Western Samar and Biliran Island. Residents along coastal areas were advised to seek higher grounds due to big waves generated by the storm. Those residing in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes were alerted against flashfloods and landslides. The weather bureau also advised the public and the disaster coordinating councils to take appropriate actions. - GMANews.TV