Storm death toll rises to 32; thousands left homeless

Tropical storm Caloy (International code name: Chanchu) gained strength as it blew away Sunday from the Philippines, where it killed at least 32 people and left thousands homeless, forcing the relocation of an annual meeting of Southeast Asian trade ministers. Other news reports placed the number of people killed at 35. Most of the dead were aboard a motor ferry that sank near central Masbate island at dawn Friday after the skipper ignored a coast guard ban on sea travel. At least 26 people were drowned, according to Neri Amparo, an official of the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Coast guard boats and fishermen rescued 18 other passengers of the outrigger Mae Ann and were searching for at least two others who were reported missing by their families. Authorities have not found the ferry's passenger manifest and were unsure if there were other victims, Amparo said. “This deadly accident could have been avoided if some people were not as hardheaded and heeded the coast guard's storm warnings," Amparo said. Five others died after being struck by trees or concrete walls in three provinces and in a Manila suburb which were swamped by flood and battered by strong wind. A fisherman drowned when his boat sank off central Iloilo province, Amparo said. Organizers were forced to shift the venue of an annual retreat of trade ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations from the popular, palm-fringed resort island of Boracay, about 300 kilometers southeast of Manila, after the storm disrupted flights and knocked out power in nearby provinces. The meetings, which start Monday, have been moved to Manila. The storm made landfall on eastern Samar island late Thursday, sliced westward across the center of the archipelago and blew toward the South China Sea on Saturday, leaving continuing rain and bad weather in its wake. Caloy was roaring over the South China Sea, about 360 kilometers southwest of Manila, with gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour by mid-Sunday, according to Manila's weather agency. More than 42,000 people were affected by floods, landslides and heavy rains, including nearly 8,000 which have to be moved to government evacuation centers in five central rural regions where stormed passed, officials said. Strong winds and rain triggered floods, landslides and toppled trees and commercial billboards, destroying 600 houses and damaging 3,500 others, officials said. A ferry with 713 passengers ran aground as it sought shelter early Saturday morning off Tablas island, about 260 kilometers southeast of Manila. On Friday, the empty ferry MV Northern Samar sank after it was buffeted by waves while moored at a port in Tabaco town, 320 kilometers southeast of Manila. TORNADO Some 77 families were evacuated from a town in Southern Leyte in the central Philippines after a tornado hit the area, Sen. Richard Gordon said Sunday. Gordon, who heads the Philippine National Red Cross, said the families were reportedly brought to two evacuation centers in St. Bernard town, where a landslide killed more than 1,000 residents last February. "Seven barangays (villages) were hit by the tornado. At least 20 houses were destroyed while 12 sustained partial damage," Gordon said in an interview over radio DZXL. Gordon did not say if the tornado stemmed from strong winds and rains caused by tropical storm Caloy. “Caloy" lashed western, eastern and central Visayas, Southern Tagalog, Bicol and Metro Manila on Saturday. Meanwhile, Malacañang on Sunday called on the public to help in relief efforts in areas hit by tropical storm Caloy. “Government is ready for any contingencies and we appeal to the public to cooperate in heeding warnings and in joining relief operations," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said. “President Arroyo is personally on top of the situation in seeing to it that the national disaster plan is on track to minimize loss of lives and damage to property in the wake of Caloy," Bunye said. “All hands of the national and local governments are on deck to check and warn of disaster-prone areas, provide relief and rehabilitation to affected communities, assist stranded commuters and keep an eye on the prices of essential commodities," Bunye said. He said the Palace assures victims of the storm of support and assistance from the government. Bunye, meanwhile, said some maritime officials might be sanctioned if investigations show that negligence and corruption led to the sinking of an outrigger that killed 25 people last Friday. President Arroyo on Sunday also ordered an investigation into the sinking of M/B Mae Ann 5 that led to the death of 25 people on Friday. The President wanted to know how the outrigger was able to leave port despite warnings from authorities of the onslaught of tropical storm Caloy. Glenn Rabonza, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) administrator, said Sunday the President ordered the investigation after learning that 25 people died during the accident. “It is standard operating procedure that the Coast Guard prevents vessels from going out in case of a storm. In Caloy's case, this is a 'slow onset' because weather bulletins on Caloy were already issued as early as Tuesday," Rabonza said in an interview over DZBB radio. Rabonza said the NDCC is monitoring Mindoro where an oil tanker carrying at least 1.5 million liters of bunker fuel ran aground. “We have not received any report of an oil spill. We are working with the Coast Guard on that," Rabonza said. Earlier reports quoted the Coast Guard as saying the M/B Mae Ann 5 did not heed warnings and even had no passenger list. - GMANews.TV with reports from the Associated Press