NDRRMC: Death toll from floods goes up to 51

UPDATED 9:20 a.m. - The death toll from floods and landslides in the past two weeks went up to 51 on Sunday, with the new fatalities from Negros Oriental in Central Visayas. In its 6:00 p.m. update, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said four fatalities from Negros Oriental died after they drowned. The NDRRMC identified them as:

Edglenn Banjao, 29, of Libo village in Manjuyod town in Negros Oriental;

Librado Banjao, 57, of Libo village in Manjuyod town in Negros Oriental; * Antonieta Padilla, 36, of Abante village in Pamplona town, and and Cherry Mae Padilla, 17, of Abante village in Pamplona town. While the number of injured persons remained at eight, the number of those missing rose to 12, with at least seven from Pandan town in Catanduanes in Bicol. They were identified as:

Roberto Icamen;

Narciso de Quiroz Sr.;

Josepio Celestino;

Domingo Celestino;

Armando Icamen;

Romualdo Trinidad, and

Jojo Caballero The NDRRMC said the seven were part of a batch of 21 fishermen aboard eight bancas. Only five bancas with 14 fishermen returned to Pandan town. Also reported missing was Harry Fermin, 4 years old, who was swept away by a strong current due to heavy rains at around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday at Purok 3-A, Campo 3, Talomo River village in Davao City. The NDRRMC said the floods and landslides had affected 309,002 families (or 1,580,543 people) in 25 provinces. Some 1,969 families (or 8,841 people) are being served in 77 evacuation centers. At least 503 houses were completely destroyed while 1,914 were partially damaged. The damage to property was estimated at P1.626 billion, including P417.715 million in agriculture, and P1.188 billion in infrastructure. PAGASA: Cold front threatens Bicol, Cagayan Valley The cold front that brought heavy rains to parts of Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao in the last three weeks may threaten parts of Northern Luzon this week but is likely to spare Metro Manila, state weather forecasters said on Monday. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) officer-in-charge Graciano Yumul Jr. said their models show the cold front likely to move north again. “Ngayong araw inasahan natin ang pag-ulan sa Northern Mindanao, Surigao at Zamboanga del Norte. Sa Miyerkules aakyat ang ating cold front ang kalakasan ng ulan sa Catanduanes, Sorsogon at Albay. Pagdating ng Huwebes at Biyernes kung walang pagbabago sa ating modeling, lahat na ulan nasa Cagayan at Isabela," Yumul said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (For today, we expect rains in Northern Mindanao, Surigao and Zamboanga del Norte. On Wednesday the cold front is likely to go up to Bicol and bring rains to Catanduanes, Sorsogon and Albay. By Thursday and Friday it may go up to Cagayan and Isabela.) He said Metro Manila can expect only cloudy weather and light rains that will most likely not raise the water levels at Angat Dam, which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water needs. “Sa lahat na pangyayaring yan ang Metro Manila magiging cloudy lang at halos light rains ang matatanggap natin na isang suliranin natin dahil ang ating dam ngayon halos wala nang tubig," he said. (We can expect Metro Manila to be cloudy with light rains. That may be a problem because the dams supplying Metro Manila with water face a shortage.) “Yan ang naging problema natin, ang sobra na tubig tanggap ng tanggap ng tubig tayo na kailangan ng tubig halos walang patak," he added. (That is our dilemma. Areas already saturated with water are likely to get rainy weather while dry areas are not likely to get rains from this cold front.) Meanwhile, PAGASA forecaster Ben Oris said parts of the country can expect rains throughout the week, with the cold front going north. “Opo maaring ganoon ... may katagalan na po ito (It may be rainy this week. The rainy weather may be here for a while)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. PAGASA’s 5:00 a.m. bulletin indicated the northeast monsoon is prevailing over Luzon while the tail-end of a cold front is affecting Southern Luzon and Visayas. “Northern and Central Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with light rains while Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao which may trigger flashfloods and landslides," PAGASA said. Moderate to strong winds blowing from the Northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough, it added. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the Northeast to Northwest with slight to moderate seas. Meanwhile, PAGASA also said strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the seaboards of Luzon and Eastern Visayas. – VVP, GMANews.TV