Monday, July 21, 2008 1 killed, 6 major roads closed by Helen
ONE person died on the spot, and six major roads were closed to vehicular traffic, after typhoon Helen lashed through the northern part of the Cordillera earlier this week.
This was disclosed on Saturday by Regional Director Olivia Mercado Luces of the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera, who identified the lone fatality as Jonathan Dulay Salming, 20, a dump truck driver from Talubin, Bontoc, Mountain Province.
According to Luces, Salming died after his vehicle fell into a deep ravine along the Balabag Road at the boundary of Barlig and Talubin, Bontoc, Mountain Province, while it was raining very hard sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. last July 16.
Since it took some time before the driver was found and rescued, he was declared dead on arrival in the hospital later.
Luces also reported as of 1 p.m. of July 17, the roads closed within the region were the Abra-Ilocos Norte Road, due to the swelling of the Calaba River; the Calanan-Abbot Road, the Balbalan-Pinukpok Road and the Kalinga-Abra Road, after these road sections already damaged by typhoon Mina were further destroyed by typhoon Helen.
However, as of 3 p.m. Friday, added to their list was the Gonogon section of the Baguio-Bontoc Road, where clearing operations by private contractors were still ongoing on Saturday.
She also said while the Lubo section of the Talubin-Barlig-Natonin Road was closed earlier, it was already cleared and made passable as of 8 a.m. Friday.
As of 6 a.m. of July 17, the water level in the Ambuklao Dam reached 741.02 meters, but the opening of one gate prevented it from reaching the critical level of 752 meters.
In Binga Dam, the water level reached 570.7 meters, just 4.3 meters short of reaching the critical level there of 575 meters. No gates were opened there.
In San Roque Dam, even with no gates opened, the water level only reached 242.9 meters, way short of its critical level of 290 meters.
"Until today, there still was continuous dissemination of weather and flood advisories to all Cordillera Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (CRDCC) member agencies, all the way down to the provincial, city and municipal levels," Luces disclosed.
She added while all Provincial Disaster Coordinating Councils and lower DCCs were deactivated, however, they were still advised to be on alert and to continuously monitor the possible effects of continues rains in their respective areas of responsibility due to the enhanced southwest monsoon rains. (ENO)
