Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) — Damage to agriculture and infrastructure due to the southwest monsoon, or habagat, enhanced by tropical cyclones Saola (formerly Goring) and Hanna have breached ₱700 million, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Monday.
In its latest situational report, NDRRMC said cost of production loss on agriculture has reached more than ₱584.7 million. Most of the damage recorded was in Western Visayas valued at ₱356 million, followed by Cagayan Valley with ₱192 million.
Cost of damage to infrastructure, meanwhile, was around ₱130.2 million, the agency noted. The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) recorded the highest destruction with over ₱87 million.
Of the two previously reported deaths, authorities confirmed one, a female victim from Valderrama, Antique who died of drowning. The other death is still being verified.
The NDRRMC said the heavy rains in the past weeks have affected 514,153 people or 140,101 families across eight regions, mostly in Western Visayas. There are still 3,251 residents or 915 families staying in evacuation centers, it noted.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Monday, NDRRMC spokesperson Edgar Posadas said: “Initially we have raised our red alert status to our regional offices in the Cordilleras, Regions 1, 2, 3, and Mimaropa, and Western Visayas which have also been hit.”
Posadas said authorities are focusing on areas that are still flooded. More than 50 areas in the regions of Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon are still submerged in flood, data from the NDRRMC showed.
Over 30 roads and bridges are still not passable in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, and CAR, the agency said. Power is also not yet restored in three areas in Western Visayas, it added.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Hanna left the Philippine Area of Responsibility at 8 a.m. It will, however, continue to enhance the southwest monsoon that will keep dumping rains over most parts of Luzon, as well as Western Visayas.
