Typhoon Dante leaves 25 dead in Bicol (in the Philippines)

ABS/CBN News: Twenty-five people have died and three more have been reported missing due to floods and landslides in Bicol, triggered by typhoon "Dante" (international codename Kujira), which grew stronger Tuesday as it moved away from the Philippines. Bernardo Alejandro, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) regional director, said 18 died in a landslide that hit Barangay Hubo in Magallanes town, Sorsogon province. He said the bodies of the victims have been retrieved.

In Irosin town also in Sorsogon, two-month-old Nicarose Habitan died after an uprooted tree fell on her. The typhoon also left three dead in Camarines Sur, two in Camarines Norte and one in Viga town, Catanduanes province, said Alejandro. OCD-Bicol officials on Monday morning conducted an aerial survey to assess the damage left by the typhoon that ravaged the region over the weekend. The team went over the damaged Guinlanac Bridge in Barangay Guinlajon in Sorsogon City that has caused a long queue of stranded vehicles.

The OCD official's helicopter also went over Magallanes town, where a part of Barangay Hubo was almost wiped out by the landslide. A landslide also reportedly occurred in the northern part of Catanduanes province. The National Disaster Coordinating Council on Tuesday said a total of 236,887 people in five provinces in Bicol have been displaced by the typhoon. It said that of the total number of displaced persons, only 54,308 are housed in 174 evacuation centers….