2 more deaths due to Caraga floods raises toll to 26

Two more people were confirmed dead in the Caraga region due to continuous heavy rains that caused flooding and landslides in parts of southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the country’s disaster management body said Thursday.

In its latest report released 6 p.m Thursday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) identified the latest fatalities as 48-year-old Maxwell Tajo from Surigao del Sur, and 70-year-old Francisco Eclipse Tabion from Agusan del Sur.

Both men drowned in floodwaters, according to the NDRRMC.

The two reported casualties bring up to 26 the death toll due to the heavy rains, although discrepancies were noted from the NDRRMC count.

Roberto Rebasora, 50, from Surigao del Sur, was dropped from the list of casualties in the 6 p.m. update, although he was included in the death count in earlier reports. (See:NDRRMC: Death toll from rains, floods rises to 25)

The NDRRMC report offered no explanation for this.

The number of families affected by the heavy rains, meanwhile, already reached 102,077, spanning eight regions across the country.

The southern Philippine region of Caraga — composed of the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte (including the former Dinagat Islands province), and Surigao del Sur — was hardest hit by the rains, with 76,078 families affected by heavy flooding.

The cost of damage to agriculture due to the heavy rains also increased to more than P13 million, while damage to infrastructure was pegged at P72.6 million.

According to state meteorologists, moderate to heavy rains have been prevailing across southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao since last week due to the effects of the tail-end of a cold front and the northeast monsoon.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV