Some parts of the Philippines are starting 2019 on a somber note now that as many as 85 people have reportedly died because of flooding and landslides caused by the storm Usman, which made landfall on the weekend leading up to the New Year holiday.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) spokesperson Edgar Posadas said earlier today that they are now verifying these 85 deaths, ABS-CBN News reported.
Many of the casualties came from Luzon island’s Bicol Region where the provinces of Albay, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, and Camarines Norte are now under a state of calamity, The Philippine Star reported. Deaths were also recorded in Visayas island’s Northern and Eastern Samar.
24 of these fatalities were reportedly from a landslide in Barangay (Village) Patitinan in Sagñay, Camarines Sur, the same Philippine Star report states.
40 people were also injured in the Bicol, Eastern Visayas, and Mimaropa regions and 20 were still reported missing as of 6am this morning, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
According to the same report, the NDRRMC said that 45,348 families or 191,597 individuals were affected by the storm in the Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa regions.
The Bicol Region also suffered PHP342.23 million (approx. US$6.50 million) in agriculture damage, CNN Philippines reported.
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