‘Helen’ kills 2, displaces 19,000 in Northern Luzon
By Jerry Padilla and Armand Tamaray

Tropical storm "Helen" left two people dead and displaced more than 19,000 people in the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported July 17.

NDCC Executive Director Anthony Golez identified the first casualty as 20-year-old Jonathan Dulay Saliming, who fell into a deep ravine at 9 a.m. while he was driving a dump truck along Balabag Road in Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Office of the Civil Defense officials in the Cordillera said Saliming, who was on his way to Talubin from Barlig town, was trying to clean his truck’s windshield when he lost control of the steering wheel and fell off the road.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Ilocos Norte said a man was killed from snake bite while he was tending to his cow in Pasil, Paoay, Ilocos Norte Wednesday afternoon.

DSWD Ilocos Norte official Amelia Rico said 22-year-old Alex Lacamento ventured to the flooded fields near his home to save his cow at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when an undetermined type of snake bit him.

Lacamento was taken to the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac City, where he died from his wound.

As of 12 noon July 17, the NDCC said that Helen adversely affected 4,606 families or a total of 19,150 persons in 82 villages in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan due to flooding.
Helen damaged R45,000 worth of livestock and agriculture in the municipality of Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.