Northern Samar declares state of calamity due to heavy rains

The province of Northern Samar was placed under a state of calamity due to heavy rains that brought massive flooding and landslides in many areas.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan made the declaration to place the province under state of calamity after its session presided by Vice Governor Clarence Dato on Monday, January 16.

Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Rei Josiah Echano said a total of 238,322 individuals or 55,789 families in the province were affected.

He said that the municipalities of Catubig, Las Navas, Catarman, Laoang, Mondragon and Lope de Vega reported the most number of affected individuals from among all towns in Northern Samar.

“Damage to infrastructure was estimated by the Provincial Engineering Office at P260 million, with an additional P160 million damage to national infrastructures as reported by the DPWH First District Engineering Office,” the Northern Samar provincial information office said.

“The Provincial Agriculture Office reported over P104.6 million pesos damage to agriculture, with almost half of the LGUs (local government units) in the province reporting devastation to their rice areas which have just been planted this cropping season,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office distributed augmentation relief to affected families in the form of food packs and distilled water in areas of Catubig, Lope de Vega, and San Roque, as well as other towns in line for its relief operations.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday recorded additional fatalities bringing the death toll now to 29 due to the low pressure areas, shear line, and Northeast Monsoon or Amihan since January 2.

Based on NDRRMC’s latest situational report, eight of the reported casualties came from Zamboanga Peninsula, seven each from Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao, five from Bicol, and one each from Davao Region and Soccsksargen.

As of Tuesday, a total of 155,203 displaced people or 37,984 families were staying in 484 evacuation centers, while 48,193 displaced people or 12,841 families were seeking shelter outside of evacuation centers.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA Integrated News