Northern Samar placed under state of calamity

CATARMAN, Northern Samar — Northern Samar was placed under a state of calamity after the province was hit by the worst flooding in 30 years.

The Provincial Board issued the declaration in a special session held on Thursday to pave the way for the release of calamity funds to help the 46,922 families or 185,902 persons displaced by floods triggered by heavy rains spawned by Tropical Depression “Usman.”

Twenty of the province’s  25 towns were affected.

Eight of the 13 fatalities recorded in Eastern Visayas were from Northern Samar — five in Lope de Vega town, 2 in Victoria town and one in the capital town of Catarman.

Still missing was a seven-year-old boy from Victoria town.

The floods destroyed 1,985 houses in the province and damaged 678 others.

Damage on palay and the fishery sector were pegged at P35.1 million while the floods destroyed P62.7 million worth of infrastructure.

READ: N. Samar cries for aid in ‘worst’ disaster

The worst hit was Lope de Vega where 3,963 families or 14,750 individuals were displaced due to floods that reached up to the second floor of houses.

The floods destroyed 1,431 houses and damaged 439 others.

Mayor Ana Palloc of Lope de Vega town said the damage to the municipality’s infrastructure could reach P20 million, or about half of its annual income of over P40 million. /ee

READ: Northern Samar town starts rebuilding after ‘Usman’