Lola, left behind by family, drowns in Leyte flood

An elderly woman from Leyte province was confirmed killed in the wake of floods brought by a low-pressure area in parts of Visayas and Mindanao Tuesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday.

 

NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos cited initial reports reaching him indicating the fatality was a resident of Abuyog town in Leyte.

 

"’Yung pamilya nakalimutan nila ang lola. Pagbalik nila, nalunod na (Her family forgot to bring her when they fled their home as the flood hit. When they returned, she was gone)," Ramos said in an interview on dzXL radio.

 

He did not immediately identify the fatality, but said her body was recovered by members of the Army's 78th Infantry Battalion.

 

Ramos also said he is verifying reports that children had drowned in the wake of floods after a dam supposedly broke.

 

Meanwhile, a separate report by radio dzBB's Glen Juego said the floods had affected at least 53,455 people in Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao.

 

The report said those affected were from 14 provinces in Southern Luzon, Bicol, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, and Region 10 and Caraga. 

 

Floods reached waist-high level in some areas of Surigao and Agusan provinces.  –KG, GMA News