The national disaster relief agency urged residents in the northern Philippines to be alert for flooding Sunday, after a typhoon dumped heavy rains in the mountain provinces and left at least 14 people dead, agencies report.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council issued the warning in 19 towns and cities in the province of Pangasinan, about 150 kilometers north of Manila, due to the release of water from a nearby dam.
The agency advised authorities to conduct pre-emptive evacuations, especially along river banks.
Of the 14 people declared dead since Typhoon ‘Ineng’ (Goni) unleashed its fury over the northern part of Luzon, 10 casualties are in Benguet.
The 11th fatality was reported in Pinili, Ilocos Norte, when a man was killed in a tree fall while driving his motorcycle.
It was confirmed 17 people were missing when a landslide occurred in a mining site in Mankaya in Benguet.
The missing persons were initially reported to be 18 but three of the cadavers have been recovered early Saturday, the recent were that of Felimon Adcapan and Armando Dayao.
Supt. Cherry Fajardo, spokesman of the Cordillera Administrative Region, said the flash flood swept at least seven shanties which served as temporary shelters for small-scale miners and their families in Barangay Taneg.
“There’s a possibility that they (missing people) were inside the shanties when they were washed away by the flash flood,” said Fajardo.
The search and rescue mission for them was temporarily halted Saturday afternoon due to bad weather condition.
The continuous rains forced some 32,600 people to flee their homes and seek refuge in safer place.
Of the figure, 13,159 people are still staying in various evacuation centers while the rest are staying with their relatives.