At least 13 killed due to Typhoon Paolo

October 21, 2017

The Office of Civil Defense's regional offices in Mindanao said at least 13 people died and six injured because the effect of Typhoon Paolo.

Most of the victims were recorded in Region 9 where a total of 12 people died because of drowning, electrocution, landslide, chest pain and being hit by uprooted tree.

Typhoon Paolo was last spotted at the vicinity of 1,080 km east-northeast of Basco, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 185 km and gusts of up to 225 km while moving north-northeast at the speed of 27 km.

Princess Sharva Hamsi, Region 9 civil defense officer, said in a phone interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, most of the fatalities were recorded in Zamboanga City were seven people died and three others were injured, three from the province of Zamboanga Sibugay while one from Liloy and another one from Sibuco, both in Zamboanga del Sur.

Eleven persons, including six children, were rescued while two remain missing as two boats separately capsized off Basilan province amid inclement weather, the Coast Guard said.

Lieutenant Commander Alvin Dagalea, Zamboanga Coastguard Station commander, said nine were rescued around 12 noon Friday near Baluk-Baluk, an island village in the municipality of Hadji Muhtamad. 

Dagalea said the other two rescued persons and the two missing were crewmen of a boat owned by the Sunrise fishing firm that capsized around 9 a.m. Saturday also near Baluk-Baluk Island.

The OCD in Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) also recorded one fatality and two injured in Pangutaran, Sulu after a report showed they were hit by uprooted coconut tree.

In another report, a female victim was injured after being hit by a falling coconut fruit in the province of Maguindanao.

Thousands of families were affected by the typhoon, According to Region 9, Zamboanga City has recorded a total of 4,385 families or 21,189 people, in Sibuco there were 1,351 families or 6,621 persons, in Liloy only 14 families or 40 persons recorded. In Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, there were 1,507 families or 7,535 persons and 63 families or 315 individuals were affected by the weather disturbance.

In the seven municipalities in Maguindanao there were 15,966 families or 79,830 individuals that were also affected by Paolo.

Te city of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental was also placed under  a state of calamity because of floods caused by the typhoon. Robina Asido/DMS