Mother and 2 children die in Quezon province as wall collapses at height of typhoon ‘Glenda’

A mother and her two children — one pregnant — died around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday when a wall of an abandoned house adjacent to their house collapsed and pinned them down while fast asleep at the height of typhoon “Glenda.”

Police identified the victims as Nenita Artificio, 48; her pregnant daughter Arlene; and Adrian, 8; all residents of Barangay Market View in this city.

The city suffered considerable damage, especially the coastal barangays.

Most of houses in Barangay Dalahican lost their roofs due to the strong winds of “Glenda.” The city was also in darkness since 2:00 a.m. Wednesday. In some barangays, century-old trees were uprooted and electric poles block and litter the streets.

Huge narra trees were also uprooted and blocked the national highways of Lopez and Calauag towns, resulting to thousands of travelers and motorists stranded on the road, awaiting rescue.

Quezon Governor David Suarez has dispatched two rescue teams to the third and fourth districts of the province, where information are scarce.

“Your main tasks include assessment of the areas and collate information, and coming back before dark. Don’t push onwards if you feel your safety is compromised,” Suarez stressed to the rescue teams.

The Quezon DRRMC reported to Suarez that the roads from Lucena City to Lucban town is passable as of Wednesday noon because the barangay officials and residents worked to clear the trees blocking the roads in their respective areas.

The police personnel of Pagbilao town also led the clearing of the trees and electrical poles which blocked the zig-zag road in Pagbilao going to Atimonan town.