MORE than 5,000 families were evacuated as Tropical Storm “Pepito” brought moderate to heavy rains in areas in Southern Tagalog and in Central and Northern Luzon, triggering flooding in some of the affected areas.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Mark Timbal said, however, that despite reports of flooding, they have yet to receive any report of casualty from disaster officials in the areas battered by the storm.
Based on preliminary NDRRMC data, Pepito forced the evacuation of 171 families in Cagayan, 168 families in Isabela, three families in Quirino and another 335 individuals in Aurora.
Another 4,790 families were also evacuated in Southern Tagalog, based on the initial report that NDRRMC also got from disaster teams in the region.
The storm, which made landfall on Tuesday night in Casiguran, Aurora, triggered floods in Pampanga and Quezon. According to Timbal, 19 barangays in the town of Masantol and another barangay in the town of Macabebe were flooded.
Timbal said that the Maharlika Highway at Barangay Canda in Lopez, Quezon, a key highway leading to the Bicol region from Metro Manila, remained impassable due to flood waters.
The NDRRMC is collating additional reports from the areas affected by Pepito.
Image credits: Mark Timbal/NDRRMC