TYPHOON Ompong, which exited the Philippines after leaving behind a trail of destruction—and killing at least 18 people—wrought billions in farm damage mostly in Northern Luzon, but Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said damage to transportation infrastructure appeared to be much less, initially at P40 million, for Cagayan.
Officials have begun assessing the overall effects of the typhoon, the strongest to hit the country this year.
Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba reported that Ompong, which hit land early Saturday morning, almost wiped out the province’s agriculture sector, with the damage initially placed at P8 billion, as estimated by local officials in affected towns and municipalities.
The governor said that, while the estimate still has to undergo official revalidation, it was obvious that Cagayan’s agriculture was flattened by Ompong’s heavy rains and howling winds, a devastation nowhere near the level of Typhoon Lawin, which also hit the province in 2015 and to which Ompong was earlier compared.
“While we have a zero casualty, our agriculture was totally devastated. From the northern to the southern part of the province, Ompong really cut across Cagayan,” Mamba said, hours after the typhoon left the country’s area of responsibility on Saturday night.
Farm damage was especially huge in Baggao, where the typhoon made landfall. Buildings and houses were also damaged.
Mamba said that around the province, houses and buildings, including schools, had their rooftops torn off by the extremely powerful winds combined with Ompong’s strong rains that went on for 16 continuous hours.
The province is without power and would take at least one week to have it at least partially restored.
It is tending to the needs of more than 11, 000 families or at least 46,000 people in evacuation centers, though many have begun returning to their damaged homes. “We will declare a state of calamity,” Mamba said.
Ilocos Norte
In Ilocos Norte, Gov. Imee Marcos said agriculture was also severely hit by the typhoon, which also damaged houses and buildings.
“We will have a complete picture as we barely began our province-wide assessment,” she said, adding roads and highways were also being cleared of toppled trees with the help of soldiers. At least 11,000 individuals were evacuated due to the typhoon.
In Paoay town, a woman died while in the evacuation center after suffering a heart attack.
Ilocos Norte, like other northern provinces—Isabela, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Mountain Province and Quirino—was still without power.
In Baguio City, Benguet, Kalinga and Mountain Province, at least 17 people were reported to have been killed due to landslides, but Edward Posadas, spokesman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said they were still validating the casualties.
According to reports from local disaster officials in the area, six died in a landslide in Baguio City; four in two landslides in Itogon and La Trinidad, both in Benguet; one in Tabuk, Kalinga ,and six in Mountain Province.
P40-M transport damage
Transport infrastructure damage in Cagayan due to the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong was estimated to have reached as much as P40 million, according to DOTr Secretary Tugade, who noted that rehabilitation works are under way.
Tugade said the total amount of damage —estimated between P35 million and P40 million—covers mostly the Tuguegarao Airport. During his inspection of the airport, Tugade found out that the baggage carousel area and other offices of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) were badly damaged by strong winds. He noted it will take “until Tuesday for the baggage x-ray scanner to be repaired or replaced.”
Tugade said the government plans to utilize the Lal-lo Airport and Cauayan Airport should repairs of the Tuguegarao Airport take longer than expected.
Premium point-to-point buses will be deployed in case this happens, he said.
Seaports spared
In the case of seaports, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) reported that all gateways in the Northern Luzon area, such as Currimao, Aparri, Batanes, Salomage and Sual, were spared from damage and are now operational, after the no-sail rule preventively imposed before Ompong was lifted.
Land transportation also immediately resumed, leaving all bus terminals with a few to none stranded passengers. Tugade was tasked by President Duterte to oversee the planning, preparation and rehabilitation in Cagayan, the Cabinet official’s hometown.
Energy needs
Energy officials and power companies are also at work in areas hit by Typhoon Ompong.
Based on the Sunday noon report of the Department of Energy-led Task Force on Energy Resiliency (TFER), the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it restored 78 percent of affected transmission lines in Regions 1, 2 and CAR. There is ongoing restoration for the remaining 32 percent which services Abra, Apayao, Cagayan, Kalinga, Mountain Province and parts of Isabela.
The National Electrification Administration said a total of 23 electric cooperatives experienced line tripping and damaged distribution facilities across Luzon. Initial estimated cost of damage to electric cooperatives alone was at P100,600,000.
The National Power Corp. (NPC)-Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) reported that the diesel power plant (DPP) in Sabtang Island in Batanes incurred no damage and was restored at 8:39 a.m. Sunday after line clearing of the Batanes Electric Cooperative (Batanelco).
NPC-SPUG also reported that there are no operations in the diesel power plants in these areas due to assessment, clearing and restoration activities: Cagayan and Apayao area (Calayan, Minabel and Balatubat, and Kabugao); Isabela and Aurora area (Palanan, Maconacon and Casiguran).
NPC’s dam update indicates that water-spilling operations were still ongoing at the Ambuklao Dam with water level at 751.25 meters above sea level (masl) against normal high water level (NHWL) of 752 masl; the Binga Dam with 574.83 masl versus NHWL of 575 masl; the Magat dam with 186.5 masl versus NHWL of 193 masl; the Maris dam with 103.22 masl versus NHWL of 107.75 masl; and the San Roque dam with 287.15 masl versus NHWL of 280 masl. Meanwhile, the Angat water reservoir has not opened its spill gates.
Rene Acosta, Lenie Lectura and Lorenz Marasigan
Image credits: Nonie Reyes