At least four people died in the Bicol region while six others were reported missing in Eastern Visayas as Severe Tropical Storm Opong battered parts of the country, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Friday, September 26.
OCD Bicol regional director Claudio Yucot confirmed that one fatality in Mercedes, Camarines Norte was struck by lightning, while three others in Masbate province perished from separate incidents.
One was crushed by a collapsed wall in Masbate City, another was hit by a fallen tree in Monreal town, and a fourth was struck by falling debris in Mobo.
“These are the immediate casualties directly related to Severe Tropical Storm Opong,” Yucot said in a briefing.
OCD Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV clarified that these were not part of the earlier 14 fatalities attributed to other weather disturbances by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo said the four deaths were still undergoing validation through the management of the dead and missing clusters.
“We received initial reports, but these go through validation. Yes, the data reportedly include four fatalities,” he explained in a virtual press conference.
At the same time, the OCD said six people were reported missing in Eastern Visayas, with verification ongoing. The storm’s impact, it added, was first felt Thursday night in Bicol and Eastern Visayas and continued into Friday as the system moved toward the MIMAROPA region.
State weather bureau PAGASA said Opong maintained its strength as it crossed Romblon province on Friday morning, packing maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour near the center, gusts of up to 150 kph, and a central pressure of 985 hPa.
The storm left at least 85,691 families, or more than 318,000 individuals, affected across Bicol’s six provinces, according to initial OCD estimates.
Masbate was among the hardest hit, experiencing intense winds and rains after Opong made landfall in Palanas town at 4 a.m. Friday.
