MANILA,
PhilippinesStorm ‘Cosme’ damage breaches P1-B mark
Damage
to property caused by tropical
storm "Cosme" breached the P1-billion mark as of Tuesday, the National
Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
In its report at 6 p.m. Tuesday, the NDCC said damage to infrastructure hit P41.795 million and in agriculture P1.485 billion.
Zambales province in Central Luzon bore the biggest damage in infrastructure and Pangasinan in Ilocos province had the biggest damage to agriculture.
NDCC said the damage to infrastructure included P20.1 million in Sta. Cruz town in Zambales and P11.9 million in Ilocos.
Damage to agriculture involved 290 hectares of crops in Ilocos estimated at P1,484,907,640 - including some 1.382-billion damage in Pangasinan and P40.7 million in La Union.
On the other hand, 79,374 families or 416,619 persons in 539 villages in 44 towns and five cities in five provinces in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Western Visayas and Cordillera were affected.
Of these, 236 families or 1,300 people are staying in nine evacuation centers.
At least 10,941 houses were destroyed and 21,987 damaged.
The NDCC said assistance had amounted so far to P1.926 million, with the Health Department sending drugs and medicines to the affected areas. - GMANews.TV
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Strong winds and heavy rains brought by storm “Cosme” killed 21 people and injured nine others as it slammed Northern Luzon last Saturday, the Provincial Disaster Coordination Councils (PDCCs) in the affected areas reported yesterday.
Weather forecasters said Cosme was expected to be 640 kilometers east of Okinawa, Japan this morning.
The storm destroyed at least 3,000 houses, mostly in Pangasinan where Cosme made landfall last Saturday with winds of 105 kilometers per hour.
Strong winds uprooted trees and knocked down electrical poles, causing power outages and cutting telephone lines. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture was expected to be extensive.
Disaster officials reported that 12 residents were killed in Pangasinan, four in La Union, one each in Benguet and Zambales, one in Antique and two in Negros Occidental.
Local officials have also declared Pangasinan, La Union and Zambales under a state of calamity.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) also reported that three people were killed in Western Visayas and another fatality was reported in Central Luzon.
In Sta. Cruz, Zambales, at least 2,300 houses were destroyed and 4,230 others were partially damaged.
Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso’s executive assistant Rene Totol said that other parts of Zambales were also affected by the storm, and 70 to 80 percent of agricultural crops, including trees, were also destroyed in Sta. Cruz.
“The trees, including many mango trees which abound in the town, were either felled or uprooted,” he said.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap assured the people that the typhoon caused minor damage to agricultural products, particularly rice crops.
Disaster officials said damage to crops was initially estimated at P168 million.
“The area affected is minimal,” Yap told the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum, adding rains brought by the storm were good for rice fields.
“I’m still waiting for the report from the regional director but based on the preliminary report I got from the DA, the impact is not that substantial,” he said.
Yap said the storm did not affect the country’s rice production for this year.
He said the public has sufficient stockpiles of rice, with the 10-percent gap between supply and demand already taken care of by the contracted imports of the National Food Authority totaling 1.7 million metric tons (MT).
The NFA imports are equivalent to a buffer stock level of 32 days at the current daily consumption average of 33,000 MT, he said.
The additional tenders this month are only meant to let the NFA maintain a 30-day buffer stock or double the normal buffer stock of 15 days’ supply during the traditional lean months of July to September prior to the main harvest season and for the remainder of the year, Yap said.
He earlier said that on top of the contracted import volumes, the DA is also expecting the summer harvest to surpass seven million MT, which is higher than last year’s dry crop yield of 6.7 million MT.
Palay harvests have already reached 5.89 million MT as of May 5, which is near the projected 7.1 million MT target for the dry cropping season. – With James Mananghaya, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marianne Go, Jun Elias, Ding Cervantes, AP - (STAR) By Eva Visperas
In its report at 6 p.m. Tuesday, the NDCC said damage to infrastructure hit P41.795 million and in agriculture P1.485 billion.
Zambales province in Central Luzon bore the biggest damage in infrastructure and Pangasinan in Ilocos province had the biggest damage to agriculture.
NDCC said the damage to infrastructure included P20.1 million in Sta. Cruz town in Zambales and P11.9 million in Ilocos.
Damage to agriculture involved 290 hectares of crops in Ilocos estimated at P1,484,907,640 - including some 1.382-billion damage in Pangasinan and P40.7 million in La Union.
On the other hand, 79,374 families or 416,619 persons in 539 villages in 44 towns and five cities in five provinces in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Western Visayas and Cordillera were affected.
Of these, 236 families or 1,300 people are staying in nine evacuation centers.
At least 10,941 houses were destroyed and 21,987 damaged.
The NDCC said assistance had amounted so far to P1.926 million, with the Health Department sending drugs and medicines to the affected areas. - GMANews.TV
= = =
Strong winds and heavy rains brought by storm “Cosme” killed 21 people and injured nine others as it slammed Northern Luzon last Saturday, the Provincial Disaster Coordination Councils (PDCCs) in the affected areas reported yesterday.
Weather forecasters said Cosme was expected to be 640 kilometers east of Okinawa, Japan this morning.
The storm destroyed at least 3,000 houses, mostly in Pangasinan where Cosme made landfall last Saturday with winds of 105 kilometers per hour.
Strong winds uprooted trees and knocked down electrical poles, causing power outages and cutting telephone lines. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture was expected to be extensive.
Disaster officials reported that 12 residents were killed in Pangasinan, four in La Union, one each in Benguet and Zambales, one in Antique and two in Negros Occidental.
Local officials have also declared Pangasinan, La Union and Zambales under a state of calamity.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) also reported that three people were killed in Western Visayas and another fatality was reported in Central Luzon.
In Sta. Cruz, Zambales, at least 2,300 houses were destroyed and 4,230 others were partially damaged.
Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso’s executive assistant Rene Totol said that other parts of Zambales were also affected by the storm, and 70 to 80 percent of agricultural crops, including trees, were also destroyed in Sta. Cruz.
“The trees, including many mango trees which abound in the town, were either felled or uprooted,” he said.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap assured the people that the typhoon caused minor damage to agricultural products, particularly rice crops.
Disaster officials said damage to crops was initially estimated at P168 million.
“The area affected is minimal,” Yap told the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum, adding rains brought by the storm were good for rice fields.
“I’m still waiting for the report from the regional director but based on the preliminary report I got from the DA, the impact is not that substantial,” he said.
Yap said the storm did not affect the country’s rice production for this year.
He said the public has sufficient stockpiles of rice, with the 10-percent gap between supply and demand already taken care of by the contracted imports of the National Food Authority totaling 1.7 million metric tons (MT).
The NFA imports are equivalent to a buffer stock level of 32 days at the current daily consumption average of 33,000 MT, he said.
The additional tenders this month are only meant to let the NFA maintain a 30-day buffer stock or double the normal buffer stock of 15 days’ supply during the traditional lean months of July to September prior to the main harvest season and for the remainder of the year, Yap said.
He earlier said that on top of the contracted import volumes, the DA is also expecting the summer harvest to surpass seven million MT, which is higher than last year’s dry crop yield of 6.7 million MT.
Palay harvests have already reached 5.89 million MT as of May 5, which is near the projected 7.1 million MT target for the dry cropping season. – With James Mananghaya, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marianne Go, Jun Elias, Ding Cervantes, AP - (STAR) By Eva Visperas
