Mario leaves 10 dead, 7 injured

This visible image of Tropical Storm Mario (Fung-Wong) was taken on Sept. 18 at 05:24 UTC from the VIIRS instrument aboard NOAA-NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite. (Image Credit: NRL/NOAA/NASA)

MANILA — Tropical Storm “Mario” (international name: Fung-Wong) left the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday, leaving 10 people dead, 7 injured, and almost 200,000 people displaced in Luzon due to flash floods.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), at least 10 people died including a 2-year-old child from Quezon City either drowned or electrocuted.

Although the storm headed to Taiwan on Sunday, it continued to affect the southwest monsoon and continued to pour rain over the western section of Luzon.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) already lowered all public storm warning signals in the country.

However, the weather bureau said that the Batanes group of islands would continue to experience monsoon rains, while there would be occasional rains in Ilocos provinces including the Babuyan and Calayan group of islands. The rest of the country and Metro Manila would have isolated thunderstorms and rainshowers.

On Thursday, Typhoon Mario brought heavy to intense rains on Luzon and Visayas.

According to NDRRMC, as of Sunday, 222 areas in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Metro Manila were still flooded; while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) noted that 75 roads and three bridges still remain unpassable.

The storm also affected about 198,000 people in nine regions – Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Central Visayas, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and Metro Manila. These people are still in 379 evacuation centers in the said regions.

Road repairs for the damage of Mario were estimated to be at P91.34 million, P56.6 million of which are in Central Luzon. Moreover, at least P76 million in losses were incurred because of the destroyed and damaged crops, fish and livestock houses, buildings, roads, and bridges.