‘Basyang’ leaves with 68 fatalities, P188-M damages to infrastructure, agriculture
RESCUERS retrieved three more bodies from the sea on Sunday, raising the death toll from tropical storm Basyang (international name: Conson) to 68, but more bad weather was hampering search operations.
Damage to farm, infrastructure and private property rose to P188 million on Sunday from P22.3 million last Friday, according to a report released by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at 5:00 a.m. Sunday.
Benito T. Ramos, chief of the Office of Civil Defense and executive director of the NDCC said rescuers, including volunteers and troops, continued to scour coastal areas in the country’s southeastern seaboard on Sunday, where the majority of the 84 still missing from a sunken fishing vessel were reported.
However, he said fresh rains brought on by a new weather disturbance east of the main island of Luzon were hampering search and rescue operations. State weather forecasters however said it was unlikely to develop into a full-blown storm.
Basyang slammed into the country on Tuesday, directly hitting the capital Manila as it cut westward into the South China Sea with a ferocity that caught weather forecasters by surprise. (PIA-Bohol)
