Super typhoon “Egay”, which enhanced the effects of southwest monsoon (habagat), left a trail of destruction in its path and dealt P2 billion worth of damage to the agriculture and infrastructure sectors, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Saturday, July 29.
Super typhoon "Egay" triggers a landslide in Baguio City. (File photo)
NDRRMC spokesperson Edgar Posadas said the initial estimated damage to infrastructure amounted to P1,191,137,926.36 while agricultural loss reached P833,889,970.48.
Ilocos (Region 1) and Cagayan Valley (Region 2) bore the brunt of the typhoon as it registered infrastructure loss worth P643.5 million and P483 million, respectively, followed by Bicol (Region 5) at P52.05 million; Mimaropa (Region 4B) at P10.9 million; and Western Visayas (Region 6) at P1.5 million.
Meanwhile, Region 2 was also dealt with the largest blow in its agriculture with an accumulated loss of P774 million; followed by Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) at P50 million; Region 6 at P9 million; and Calabarzon (Region 4A) at P213,500.
“Tataas pa po ito kasi mayroon pa kaming vina-validate sa Region 1 (This will further increase as we are still validating data from Region 1),” Posadas said in a radio interview with dzBB.
The death toll also increased to 14, six of them were confirmed, as one new fatality was included in the tally although Posadas said it was still being validated.
“Hindi pa po dito kasama ‘yung ating unfortunate casualties sa Binangonan (Our unfortunate casualties in Binangonan are not yet included in our data),” Posadas said.
“For purposes of perspective, nakahiwalay muna ‘yung sa Binangonan kasi ito ay more or less attributable either kay Egay at sa enhanced habagat (For purposes of perspective, we separated [the casualties] in Binangonan because they are more or less attributable either to Egay or the enhanced southwest monsoon),” he explained.
At least 27 persons died while 43 others were rescued when motorbanca Princess Aya capsized in Binangonan, Rizal on July 27. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) earlier attributed the incident to Egay and habagat.
At least 20 persons were also missing, including four personnel of the PCG and seven crew of a tugboat that they were supposed to rescue in Aparri, Cagayan.
The PCG personnel went missing on July 26 when their aluminum boat capsized and they were swept away by raging waters off Cagayan River while trying to rescue the stranded crew of tugboat “Iroquois.”
The nine other missing persons were reported in Benguet, Abra, and Apayao in the Cordillera region.
A total of 172,293 families or 608,979 individuals have also been affected by the combined effects of Egay and habagat in 1,858 barangays in Regions 1, 2, Central Luzon (Region 3), 4A, 4B, 5, 6, Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Davao (Region 11), Soccsksargen (Region 12), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), CAR, and National Capital Region (NCR).
Of this, there were 3,288 families or 11,043 individuals who were staying in 241 evacuation centers.
There were 9,248 houses that were either totally or partially damaged in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, BARMM and CAR.
State of calamity
The NDRRMC said the province of Ilocos Norte in Region 2 was already placed under a state of calamity.
“Sa ngayon, officially may isang declaration ng state of calamity pero naririnig natin may ibang local government units na gusto po magdeklara ng state of calamity. May parameters ito at pinag-uusapan sa konseho (Right now, there is officially one declaration of a state of calamity but we heard that there are other local government units that want to declare a state of calamity. There are parameters and this is discussed by their councils),” Psadas said.
Aside from Ilocos Norte, Abra and Mountain province reportedly also were placed under a state of calamity.
“Maganda ito kasi this can mobilize additional resources para mas mabilis ang pagresponde (This is good because this can mobilize additional resources for quicker response),” Posadas noted.