8 reported dead due to Basyang —OCD

Eight people were reported to have died due to the effects of tropical cyclone Basyang (international name: Penha), according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Saturday.

The reported fatalities were from the following areas, according to OCD deputy spokesperson Diego Agustin Mariano:

• Cagayan de Oro City: 4 due to landslide, according to the Cagayan de Oro City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office through OCD Region X;
• Iligan City: 3 (cause for verification), according to Iligan City Mayor Frederick Siao; and
• Agusan del Norte: one due to drowning, according to OCD Caraga.

The reports are "all for validation," Mariano said in a message to reporters.

On Friday, the Police Regional Office 10 (PRO 10) said four people were reported dead in a landslide at Zone-1 Sambulawan, Gabule Compound, Barangay Agusan in Cagayan de Oro City amid the onslaught of Basyang. 

According to the police report, a newly constructed house was involved in the landslide. The house’s structural pillars were weak, and continuous heavy rainfall caused the structure to collapse. 

A large pile of soil excavated during the house’s construction also eroded and fell onto the property, leading to the deaths of the victims.

Mariano said the four fatalities belonged to one family including two adults and two children.

According to a report by GMA Regional TV's James Paolo Yap on "24 Oras" on Friday, the fatalities were a married couple and two children, ages 12 and 11 months. 

Two others were reportedly injured.

Iligan City was placed under a state of calamity on Friday due to the effects of Basyang. A year-old steel bridge collapsed in Barangay Puga-an. Strong flood currents reaching up to the waist level also swept away vehicles along the road in Barangay Mahayahay.

Three people reportedly died in Iligan due to flooding caused by heavy rains brought by Basyang, the Iligan City Social Welfare and Development said, according to a report by James Paolo Yap on Saksi on Friday.

Some 3,800 families were affected in Iligan City, according to local officials.

Meamwhile, in Cagayan de Oro City, more than 2,000 individuals were evacuated.

Basyang, then a tropical storm, made landfall over Bayabas, Surigao del Sur early Friday morning. 

It brought heavy rains as it made its way over Agusan del Norte, Bohol Sea, and Bohol where it made another landfall as a tropical depression. 

Thousands were stranded in ports nationwide as sea trips were canceled. 

On Friday night, Basyang was over Negros Oriental as it continued to weaken. 

At 2 a.m. Saturday, Basyang has weakened into a low pressure area, PAGASA said. 

Basyang is "unlikely" to develop into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours, it added. 

At 4 a.m., the LPA was located 105 km southeast of Cuyo, Palawan, moving westward at 25 km/h. —KG, GMA Integrated News