The death toll rose to eight as cost
of damage to agriculture and infrastructure from onslaught of Typhoon
"Labuyo" last week ballooned to more than P1 billion, the National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Friday.
The NDRRMC said cost of damage to
property and crops in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and
Cordillera Administrative Region has reached P1,081,719,037.59 (P358,547,941.93
in infrastructure and P723,171,096.66 in agriculture).
The NDRRMC reported that Central
Luzon suffered the most during the typhoon’s onslaught with P421,653,318.88
cost of damage to property and crops followed by Cagayan Valley with P417
million.
The agency also reported that a
total of 84,571 families or 383,540 persons in the 16 provinces of the five
regions were affected by the typhoon.
A total of 53 families are still
in two evacuation centers while 24,605 families are staying in their friends’
and relatives’ houses.
The NDRRMC has confirmed eight
people killed at the height of the typhoon while four more remained missingas
rescuers recovered the body of a 40 year old woman in Isabela.
A radio report said a team of
rescuers from the Philippine Army recovered the body of the woman around 11:30
p.m. last Tuesday.
The victim was caught on video on
the roof top of the house while being swept by raging waters during the height
of the typhoon, which caused flashflood in the area.
The NDRRMCl identified the
fatalities as Joemar Salicong, 22 and Reynaldo dela Cruz, 53. Salicong was
killed in a mudslide in Benguet province while Dela Cruz drowned in Nueva
Vizcaya.
The missing victims were Benny
Amario of Isabela and Julio Balanoba of Batanes.
The NDRRMC also reported a total
of 7,100 families or 31,256 people were affected and displaced by the typhoon
in Cagayan Valley, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Bicol and Cordillera Administrative
Region.
The agency has pegged the
typhoon's damaged to property in Ilocos region and Central Luzon at
P57,459,573.58.
A big chunk of the amount,
P43,130,750, was recorded in Aurora province.
The NDRRMC said that a total of
229 houses were totally damaged and 1,384 more were partially damaged during
the typhoon's onslaught.
Typhoon Labuyo may have left the
country, but its destruction will be felt for some time by farmers in the
Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon which incurred, by initial
estimates, P438 million in agricultural damage, authorities said.
Labuyo’s onslaught in the
Cordillera region, particularly Benguet, left crop losses reaching over P11
million.
Based on initial assessment,
losses included P4.2 million worth of high-value crops like upland vegetables,
P1.7 million worth of palay, and P5.3 million worth of corn, according to
Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera officer-in-charge Alex Uy.
Agot Balanoy of the Benguet
Vegetable Cooperative said there was minimal damage on vegetable farms in
northern Benguet.
In Mountain Province, Typhoon
Labuyo damages to road networks reached P18,575,000 while damage to flood
control structures summed up to P12,600,000.00.
Provincial Public Works maintenance
engineer Domingo Pumecha reported this initial assessment was made on national
road links and flood control structures of the province.
In a report, P10.325 million is
needed to rehabilitate road slips and P7.250 million to restore road cuts along
damaged national roads.
Clearing operations on
intermittent sections are also necessary where P1 million is needed for
equipments and manpower.
Various flood control structures
also collapsed which will cost the Public Highways P12 million to restore.
During the onslaught of Typhoon
Labuyo, district engineer Wilbur Likigan ordered deployment of the district’s
maintenance crew to effect “band-aid” solution on critical areas, to manually
clear minor slides and to assist in the clearing of massive road blocks.
Pumecha said his crew is doing
preventive maintenance work to prevent additional damages and prepare for typhoons or heavy rains.
Assistant.district engineer
Charles C. Sokoken also advised the public to be vigilant on slides and falling
rocks and debris during their travel and asked that road slides be reported
earlier so these could be fixed.
In Pangasinan, authorities cited
partial reports placing fisheries losses at P8 million and infrastructure
damage at P42 million.
In Quirino, Agaton Pagbilao Jr.,
an officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
(PDRRMC), said Labuyo’s fury destroyed P205,897,645 in agricultural crops, with
corn accounting for the biggest damage at P177,460,824.
The howler, according to Pagbilao,
affected 25,267 hectares of croplands, of which 15,330 hectares are planted
with corn.
In Isabela, Senior Supt. Sotero
Ramos Jr., provincial police director and action officer of the PDRRMC, said
Districts 3 and 4 were the hardest hit by the typhoon, with crop losses
initially placed at nearly P180 million.
Gov. Faustino Dy III reported
that Labuyo destroyed at least 19,885 hectares of cornfields worth
P138,741,314; 3,410 hectares of rice fields worth P26,555,375; banana plants at
fruiting stage at P13,218,823; and vegetable farms worth P1.11 million.
However, Dy said damage to
infrastructure was negative but the water level in several areas in the
province’s two cities and 34 municipalities was slightly elevated.
As of Wednesday, the water level
of Magat Dam was at 191.90 meters, near the critical level of 190 meters. Its
management earlier had to open one gate to let go of the excess water. – With
reports from Charlie Lagasca, Luis Jose, Liam Anacleto and Pamela
Fiar-odDungala
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