Cost of damage in agriculture reach P299 million - DA
Fishermen secure their outrigger boats from rough seas in Barangay Punta Cogon, Roxas City during the onslaught of Typhoon Jolina. The city government evacuated residents along the shores as Jolina battered Capiz, according to weather bureau PAGASA. Photo courtesy of CDRRMO Roxas City
MANILA (UPDATE) - Tropical storm Jolina (international name: Conson) has so far left one confirmed dead and 17 people missing after its rampage in Luzon and the Visayas during its peak this week, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Thursday.
The agency said a 21-year-old man in Buenavista, Marinduque died due to drowning. There are two other reported fatalities in Naro, Masbate, but validation by authorities is still ongoing, the NDRRMC said in its 12 p.m. report.
Aside from 17 confirmed missing people, 14 others who are unaccounted for in Naro town have been reported and are now being verified.
The NDRRMC said it is also validating reports that four people, also in Naro, were injured during the onslaught of Jolina.
The agency said earlier in the day that five of 12 fishermen reported missing in Catbalogan, Samar, have been rescued. Three more fishermen were missing in Culuba, Biliran and four others were also reported missing in Esperanza, Masbate.
A total of 20,777 families or 83,650 individuals in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region, Western Visayas and Eastern Visayas were affected by the 10th storm to hit the country this year, according to NDRRMC.
Of these, 1,943 families or 7,538 individuals stayed in evacuation centers, while 509 families or 2,291 individuals took shelter outside emergency centers.
The agency added that 295 passengers, 215 rolling cargoes, 7 vessels, and a motorbanca got stranded in ports in Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Mimaropa, Bicol region, and Western, Central, and East Visayas.
The typhoon also damaged 3,843 houses and totally destroyed 298 others, according to the report.
DAMAGE TO AGRICULTURE TOP P299 MILLION
Meanwhile, Jolina destroyed P299.40 million worth of crops in Calabarzon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas, according to the Department of Agriculture's monitoring.
The DA's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management operations center said that as of 1 p.m., 57,649 hectares were affected, majority or 83.5 percent of which are rice fields.
Some 14.7 percent are corn products.
"Affected commodities include... high value crops, livestock, and fisheries. These values are still subject to validation," the DA noted.
A total of 62,052 farmers and fisherfolk were also affected by the storm, while total volume loss is pegged at 16,155 metric tons.
Authorities are also bracing for Typhoon Kiko (International name: Chanthu), which maintained its strength as it moved over the Philippine Sea.
As of 10 a.m., the center of Kiko was last spotted 670 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora. It is packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center, with gusts of up to 240 kph.
- reports from Bianca Dava and Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News