A TOTAL of 127 families have so far been evacuated from landslide and flood-prone areas in the Bicol Region due to inclement weather conditions caused by Tropical Depression Ofel.
Based on initial details forwarded by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Mark Cashean Timbal on Thursday morning, the evacuated families are from Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon.
"The local government units have been warned ahead so we presumed they have implemented preemptive evacuation," Timbal said.
At present, he said no casualties were reported.
"These (are) preliminary figures, so it still could change," Timbal added.
In Southern Luzon, he said that 134 families in Lucena City, Quezon; Bauan, Batangas; and Los Banos, Laguna were placed in evacuation centers.
"But with the weather improving, a number of the evacuated families have started to return to their homes," Timbal said.
Meanwhile, 158 families are staying in nine evacuation centers in Oriental Mindoro. These are from the municipalities of Puerto Galera, Bulalacao, Calapan and Baco.
Timbal added that there were no evacuees in Marinduque but minor landslides blocked portions of roads in Nangka village in the town of Torrijos and Bocboc and Pili villages in Mogpog town.
Also, floods were was reported in Barangay Sta. Cecilia, Tagkawayan, Quezon but it has now subsided.
Clearing operations are also ongoing at the Lopez Hondagua Port Road in Quezon after it was blocked by fallen trees.
Meanwhile, only one lane of the Tignoan-Mauban road in Quezon is passable due to landslides. ( By Priam Nepomuceno)