Some P14.6 million worth of farm crops were reported damaged in Region 12 and Caraga alone amid the destruction wrought by Storm Dante, initial reports from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed on Thursday.
The NDRRMC also reported four deaths in Dante’s wake, while two others were injured and another seven, four of them fishermen from Pilar, Capiz, are still missing. The damage on agriculture, mostly involving rice and corn crops affected at least 442 farmers and covering 723 hectares of agricultural areas in Region 12 and Caraga.
The NDRRMC said it is expecting the damage would further increase as assessments are ongoing in other provinces and regions in Mindanao, Visayas and Bicol affected by Dante.
While the weather has already improved and the rain has ceased, the NDRRMC said that Dante’s rain triggered flooding, landslides and even flash floods in some of the areas that it battered.
The NDRRMC said the typhoon, which made eight landfalls in Eastern Samar and in various areas in Romblon, Mindoro, Masbate and Batangas, initially affected a total of 9,831 families or 45,456 individuals in Caraga and Regions 11 and 12 alone.
It also forced the temporary suspension of work and classes in Southern Tagalog and Eastern Visayas and in Regions 6 and in Caraga, and triggered power interruption in 11 provinces that include the Bicol region.
Also, 26 barangays in Northern and Eastern Samar still have no mobile telecommunication signal.
Coast Guard Spokesman Balilo said they have monitored a total of 3,007 individuals, 73 vessels and 792 cargoes stranded in ports in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Southern Tagalog, Northeastern Mindanao and Bicol region amid the storm.
With the weather having fairly improved, the Coast Guard said that sea travel restrictions in various ports affected by Dante have been lifted.
“Shipping and fishing operations in all ports nationwide have resumed as of 12 p.m. today, June 3,” the Coast Guard said in its advisory.
“All passengers, truck drivers, and cargo helpers, as well as vessels, motor bancas, and rolling cargoes that were stranded…are now allowed to travel by sea,” it added.