Cagayan, Ilocos Norte lose P351 million in crops, infra
OBSTRUCTION This road in Sta. Praxedes, Cagayan, is waiting to be cleared of soil loosened by heavy rain accompanying Typhoon “Neneng” (Nesat), which also caused widespread flooding in northern Luzon on Sunday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF STA. PRAXEDES MDRRMO
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippin — The provinces of Cagayan and Ilocos Norte suffered at least P351 million in losses due to damaged farms, roads, bridges, and dikes after Typhoon Neneng (international name: Nesat) and Tropical Depression Maymay successively battered northern Luzon, local officials said on Tuesday.
According to the Cagayan provincial agriculture office, the widespread flooding in the province destroyed P174 million worth of essential crops, mostly corn and rice, on more than 11,700 hectares of farms.
Most of these damaged plantations were in the towns of Allacapan, Lal-lo, and Santo Niño, affecting 8,428 farmers.
Allacapan, which experienced the harshest effects of intense rains and massive flooding, had been placed under a state of calamity in the wake of Maymay’s onslaught.
Santa Ana town was also placed under a state of calamity on Monday after Neneng dumped heavy rain on the area. A large part of the town remained submerged in floodwater on Tuesday.
At least 18 of 26 localities in Cagayan were flooded, with water rising at the height of Maymay’s onslaught on Oct. 11. This was worsened by Neneng on Oct. 16, data from the Cagayan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office showed.
Lone fatality
In Ilocos Norte, a 75-year-old man who went missing the night before the typhoon struck the province was found dead on Tuesday, making him the lone casualty in the province, Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc said at a briefing on Monday.
The fatality, Rudy Manegdeg, a resident of Barangay San Lorenzo in Bangui, drowned in the Bolo River.
Manotoc said an initial assessment pegged the province’s losses due to Neneng at P177 million.
Citing data from local government offices, Manotoc said the province sustained P82 million worth of losses in agriculture and P95 million worth of damage to public infrastructure.
The provincial board also placed the province under a state of calamity on Monday due to the extensive damage caused by floods and landslides.
—REPORTS FROM VILLAMOR VISAYA JR., JOHN MICHAEL MUGAS AND FRANCES MANGOSING
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