AT least four people were killed and more than 400,000 individuals displaced following the impact of Severe Tropical Storm Opong in the Philippines, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) confirmed Friday.
Claudio Yucot, OCD-Bicol director and chair of the Bicol Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said three fatalities were recorded in Masbate and one in Camarines Norte.
The deaths in Masbate included a man struck by an uprooted tree in Monreal, a victim crushed by a collapsing wall in Masbate City, and another hit by falling debris in Mobo.
The Camarines Norte fatality was killed by lightning.
OCD officer-in-charge Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said 120,888 families, or about 433,000 individuals, were evacuated preemptively.
Of these, 93,000 families were from Bicol, 14,945 from Eastern Visayas, and 4,677 from Mimaropa provinces.
Nationwide, the NDRRMC reported that 307 evacuation centers were operating and at least 307 flooding incidents had been logged.
Preparedness measures were also activated:
- The health cluster readied adequate medical supplies.
- Search and retrieval teams with vessels and 1,000 personnel were on standby.
- About 52,000 personnel units were on alert for local team augmentation.
- The DSWD assured the public it had sufficient food and non-food packs, supported by ₱3 billion in standby funds.
- The telecoms cluster, including 833 teams from the DICT and partner agencies, was mobilized to secure communications.
In a separate report, the NDRRMC noted that 14 people had earlier died from the combined effects of previous storms Mirasol and Nando, with 17 injured and two missing.