P’sinan, Cagayan, N.Vizcaya placed under ‘state of calamity’

The province of Pangasinan and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya were placed under a state of calamity late Tuesday afternoon due to massive damage caused by typhoon “Lando.”

In an emergency session by the provincial board headed by Pangasinan Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim Jr., it approved Provincial Resolution No. 1608-2015 declaring a state of calamity in the entire province.

The resolution stated: “The Province of Pangasinan has suffered strong winds and heavy downpour brought about by Typhoon ‘Lando’ for almost three days from October 17-19, 2015.”

Elsehwere, eight more bodies were recovered in several provinces in Central Luzon while in La Union, damage to agriculture was initially placed at over P200 million.

Rehab, relief efforts

The state of calamity is intended to start the rehabilitation of the damages caused by the typhoon and augment the relief operations in the province as well as alleviate the plight of displaced residents.

Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr., earlier said that pro-active response has been conducted in coordination with various line agencies to address the needs of residents reeling from the effects of ‘Lando’

Pangasinan was placed under public storm warning signal number 3 on October 18, which caused power outage all over the province due to toppled electrical posts.

Provincial officials yesterday placed Cagayan under a  state of calamity due to massive flooding in 18 towns and one city.

Cagayan Provincial Board Member VilmerViloria said that the state of calamity declaration was approved during their session in the morning.

Based on initial report from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Viloria said the partial estimated cost of damages to agriculture in the province is P208.073 million.

At least 53, 000 hectares of farmlands were either partially or totally damaged, affecting the livelihood of 38,529 farmers affected.

The Tuguegarao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meantime, said at least 34 barangays were flooded and displaced at least 7,500 families or 37, 000 individuals.

12 fatalities

Twelve fatalities have been reported in the province as of noon time Wednesday. Among the fatalities Mauro Nuerong (Brgy. Pampano, Mangatarem), Regina Sabangan (Brgy. Bongato East, Bayambang), Jan KerbyCapena (Brgy. IlogMalino, Bolinao), Cristina Veloria, SixtoVeloria, Susana Cabana, and Trisha Cabana (all from SitioBarukong in Bani).

Six other individuals sustained injuries directly related to the typhoon.

Substantial infra, agri damage

Initial estimates on damage to infrastructure is at of P49.5 million while damage to agriculture is assessed at P10,872,112 as of Tuesday noon.

However, the offices of the Provincial Agriculturist and the Provincial Engineer said that the figures are expected to increase further once more reports from the field are received.

Dam status

As of Thursday afternoon, the water level at San Roque Dam is at 284.18 meters above sea level (masl), or 4.18 meters above its spilling level, with an inflow of 1060 cubic meters per second (cm) of waters from the upstream and an outflow of 601.72 cm into the dam’s four spill gates opened at 0.5 meter each.

Evacuees

Meanwhile, a total of 2,329 families have been evacuated to some 41 evacuation centers located in some 14 hard-hit towns.

The towns with evacuees include Anda, Basista, Binmaley, Bolinao, Bugallon, Infanta, Mabini, Mangaldan, Lingayen, San Fabian, Sual, Manaoag, San Nicolas and Mangatarem.

 Pangasinan access

All national roads as well as other major thoroughfares are now passable to all types of vehicles except for Padilla bridge connecting Lingayen and Bugallon which is closed due to rehabilitation/repair, Urdaneta-Brgy. Pinmaludpod-Calasiao (not passable to all vehicles) and Urdaneta-Brgy. Inamatan-Manaoag (not passable to light vehicles).

In Nueva Vizcaya, officials declared the province under state of calamity due to severe effects of typhoon ‘Lando’ in its 15 municipalities.

The declaration was made by the SangguniangPanlalawigan citing an initial report of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office showing more than P406 million-worth of damage on infrastructure and agriculture.

Governor Ruth Padilla convened members of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council Thursday to address concerns of the province due to the effects of the typhoon.

A press time, the  stretch of the national highway in barangay Tactac in Sta. Fe town to Carranglan, Nueva Ecija was still blocked by huge landslides, stopping commuters from time to time.

Accidents caused by overloaded cargo trucks also continue to delay commuters going in and out of Cagayan Valley region.

EvalizaAgamata, provincial disaster risk reduction management officer said several stranded commuters since Sunday have been served with food while others cooked their food in houses along the road.  – With reports from JojoRiñoza, LiezleBasa-Inigo, Freddie G. Lazaro and Ben Ebreo