At least 10 dead from Super Typhoon ”Rolly”: NDRMMC

November 2, 2020

By Robina Asido At least 10 people died while three were missing because of Super Typhoon ''Rolly'', the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Monday.

“Rolly affected or exposed a total of 12 regions, the number of affected populations are 372,653 families or 2,068,085 individuals. We have 10 dead and one injured,” Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, NDRMMC executive director said on Monday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay said nine died in Albay and one in Catanduanes.

“We have conducted search rescue and retrieval operation wherein we recovered 10 dead people, one injured and there are still three missing which were still looking for in coordination with the local government units all of these are in Bicol region,” Gapay said.

Gapay said one injured victim was recorded in Sorsogon while the missing individuals were from Albay.

Jalad said roads and bridges were also affected by ''Rolly'' while water supply interruptions and floods occurred.

“On the status of lifelines, seven roads and four bridges in Region II, III, V and CAR were affected or damaged. There was interruption of water supplies in Region 5, specifically in Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes and Masbate,” he said.

“There were initial reports of flooding in Batangas City and in the four cities and municipalities in Region 5,” he added.

As of 8 am Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said a total of 412 passengers, truck drivers and cargo helpers were stranded in Bicol and National Capital Region.

The PCG said three vessels, 110 motorbancas and 101 rolling cargoes that are still stranded in the same regions while six vessels were taking shelter in Bicol as precautionary measure.

In his message, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano lauded the effort of the local government unit (LGU).

“We want to commend our LGU on the good preparation they did before the arrival of the typhoon. Maybe if they were not able to prepare especially in forced evacuation, more casualties will be recorded,'' said Ano.

“Our local chief executives were within their areas. We accounted for all of them... we are now also taking part in damage assessment with relevant government agencies to ensure that appropriate response will be given with the national government to hardest-hit LGUs,” he added.

However, Ano said they have no contact with officials in Catanduanes.

“Our problem right now is we do not have contact with Catanduanes but we have personnel from 9th Infantry Division, PCG  with other government agencies that already went there,” he said.

Gapay said the military also dispatched a deployable signal team to address the communication problem in Catanduanes.

“We dispatched one deployable signal team to Catanduanes to help restore communication in the province,” he said.

Gapay said the military also deployed and placed on standby vehicles, vessels, and air assets to local government units affected by ''Rolly''.

“We have on standby six aircraft, two transport aircraft and four helicopters. This is aside from the two aircraft deployed in Bicol Region and we have also naval assets: four naval assets, two heavy lift and we also have logistic support vessels on stand by for relief operations and transport missions,” he said.

“There are cargo trucks ready to roll out from Manila to Albay to deliver the first batch of relief goods in the area,” he added.

Gapay said the “military will continue the search, rescue and retrieval operation to retrieve the missing persons in affected areas. Likewise, we will continue to assist the OCD in their rapid damage assessment and needs assessment activities.

“We will continue to assist restore communication in coordination with concern LGUs and were ready to transport relief goods in coordination with the DSWD and additional engineering equipment are already enroute to the area to assist the DPWH in the clearing of the roads and bridges affected by Typhoon Rolly,” he said.

Ano said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire (BFP) have deployed and placed their personnel and assets on standby for disaster response.

“Our PNP, with the leadership of Gen. Cascolan, deployed 2,959 search and rescue personnel and there are 15,992 personnel on standby in all areas needed. The BFP has assigned 1,556 BFP assets like fire trucks and 80 ambulances,” he said.

“We will continue the coordination to assure that we will recover the missing and at the same time we will able to help on the recovery and rehabilitation,” he added. DMS