Over 100 killed and almost 340,000 affected by 'Ondoy'

Sophia M. Dedace in GMANews.tv: Over 100 have died from the effects of tropical storm Ondoy, but the figure is climbing as more flooded areas are reached by rescuers and relatives. In Brgy. Silangan in Quezon City alone, near the Batasang Pambansa, 36 people died, while 15 bodies have so far been recovered in Provident Village in Marikina, where flood waters reached rooftops. The government has reported 23 missing, but unofficial reports put that number much higher as family members cannot contact each other with cell phone services and power still down in many areas.

Many senior citizens interviewed by the media say that this is the worst disaster they have experienced in Metro Manila in their lifetimes. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council's Situation Report No. 7, 44 people died in Region IV-A: one in Calaca, Batangas; one in Calauag, Quezon; and 23 in Tanay, 10 in Angono, five in Baras, three in Montalban, and one in Theresa, all in Rizal province.

Among those killed was Tony Chua, team manager of professional basketball team Barako Bull and former chair of the PBA Board of Governors, who was reportedly hanging on to a tree along Marcos Highway when he was swept away by rampaging flood waters. Basketball coach Koy Banal was hanging on to a nearby tree and survived.

….In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, PPC chairperson Blessy Agsawa said the fatalities were from informal settler communities in the barangay, which is near the Batasan Pambansa complex that contains the House of Representatives. The bodies were brought to Funeraria Tajuana along Commonwealth Avenue. [See: 3 drop-off areas designated for Ondoy victims' donations]

…The number of affected families across Luzon has swelled to 69,513 (about 337,216 people). The partial total number of evacuees has also reached 11,967 families (about 59,920 people) who are staying in 118 evacuation centers, NDCC data showed....

Flood after Ondoy, September 27, 2009, shot by ,Philippinepresidency, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License