DAMAGE to infrastructure and agriculture caused by typhoon “Carina,” tropical depression “Butchoy,” and the southwest monsoon has gone up to over P5 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.
In a situation report, the NDRRMC also said the number of population affected by the three weather systems that hit the country in the past weeks has also increased to 5.26 million individuals, of which more than 600,000 are still displaced.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said two to three tropical cyclones are expected to develop or enter the Philippine area of responsibility this month.
In a public forecast, PAGASA weather specialist Obet Badrina said no tropical cyclone is expected until the end of this week. What they are expecting until the end of the week are isolated rain showers in many parts of the country due to the southwest monsoon, he said.
“This month of July, there were two tropical cyclones that developed inside the Philippine area of responsibility, the tropical cyclones Butchoy (tropical depression) and Carina (typhoon),” said Badrina.
The combined effects of Butchoy, Carina which caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby areas, and the southwest monsoon has left 39 people dead. Butchoy started affecting the country on July 11.
The country’s first tropical cyclone, typhoon “Aghon,” struck in May, leaving six people dead and affected some 150,000 people. Its damage to agriculture and infrastructure was pegged at P1.02 billion.
The cost of damage to infrastructure from Carina, Butchoy, and the southwest monsoon was placed at P4.09 billion in 11 regions, led by Central Luzon (P1.68 billion) and Ilocos (P1.58 billion). The figure was up from P4.26 billion as of last Tuesday.
The cost of damage agriculture rose to P1.08 billion yesterday also in 11 regions, from P545.21 million the previous day. Central Luzon also led these regions, registering P812.94 million in damage to agriculture.
The initial cost of damage to agriculture, from Carina and the effects of the southwest monsoon alone, according to the Department of Agriculture, was at P1.21 billion yesterday, up by 3.4 percent from P1.17 billion, according to latest data from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center.
This is equivalent to 22,088 metric tons (MT) of goods tended by 46,625 farmers and fisherfolk in 43,530 hectares (ha) of affected areas.
The NDRRMC said the number of damaged houses in 15 regions was pegged at 2,127, worth P3.66 million.
The NDRRMC has documented a total of 1,421,224 families or 5,263,531 individuals affected from 4,539 barangays in all the country’s 17 regions as of yesterday, up from 1,317,111 families or 4,839,002 individuals last Tuesday.
More than half of the number are in Central Luzon (920,634 families or 3,124,163 individuals), the NDRRMC said.
Of the total affected population, 275,341 families or 1,200,835 individuals have been reported displaced. However, the number was down to 133,008 families or 646,608 individuals as of yesterday.
Of the still displaced, 16,969 families or 70,417 individuals are housed at 357 evacuation centers. The rest (116,039 families or 576,191 individuals) are with their relatives and friends.
The deaths from Carina, Butchoy, and the southwest monsoon remained at 39 yesterday — 15 in the National Capital Region, 13 in Calabarzon, four in Zamboanga Peninsula, two each in Central Luzon and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and one each in Ilocos, Northern Mindanao and Davao.
Six individuals remain missing — three in Calabarzon, two in Ilocos, and one in Northern Mindanao.
A total of 119 cities and municipalities are under state of calamity, including the 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila.The government and people of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) donated some 80 tons of various goods such as pasta, wheat flour, basmati rice, and dates to the Philippines, intended for the victims of the weather disturbances.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian received the donations in simple turnover ceremonies on Tuesday evening at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The donated goods also include red lentils, chickpeas, powdered juice, tomato paste, sugar, salt, and sweet corn.
Gatchalian said this is not the first time that UAE extended aid to the country during a disaster. He said donations were also made in 2023 after Mayon Volcano’s eruption, and in February this year for victims of a landslide in Maco in Davao de Oro.
“Thank you Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and to the People of the United Arab Emirates for the generous donation to the victims of our recent [floods]. As always UAE is the fastest, the first and gives the most,” he said. — With Jed Macapagal and Jocelyn Montemayor
