‘Egay’ displaces 16,000 families in Ilocos region


MALASIQUI, Pangasinan (PNA) – A total of 16,428 families or 73,010 individuals in the Ilocos region were reportedly displaced by typhoon “Egay.”

Data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as of 8 a.m. on Friday, July 28, showed that of the total number, 4,164 families or 14,835 individuals are in evacuation centers while 12,264 families or 58,175 individuals are outside the evacuation centers.

Some 7,696 houses were partially damaged while 293 were totally destroyed in the region.

Of the total number of damaged houses, 4,780 houses were partially and 70 were totally damaged in Ilocos Sur, 2,344 houses were partially and 182 were totally destroyed in Ilocos Norte, 369 were partially and seven were totally damaged in La Union, and 203 were partially and 34 were totally destroyed in Pangasinan.

The DSWD has augmented 34,815 family food packs, 453 non-food items, and 500 six-liter bottled water to the affected local government units (LGUs) in La Union, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte while Pangasinan LGUs provide relief assistance to their affected constituents.

Meanwhile, Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) officer Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro said that damage to agriculture and fisheries in the province was P34.8 million as of July 28.

Damage to livestock was estimated at P1.1 million while damage to infrastructure, including dilapidated asphalt pavement and developed potholes, was pegged at P34.2 million.

La Union Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) officer Aureliano Rulloda III in a separate report said that the initial estimated cost of damage to agriculture in the province was P262,428.

Most of the affected in fisheries were harvestable bangus (milkfish) while in agri-infrastructures were silted pond areas due to soil erosion at the watershed area, eroded slope protection, and damaged slope protection and canal ways.