Rains damage P3-M crops, displace nearly 8,000
NEARLY
P3 million worth of agricultural products were damaged during the onslaught of Tropical Depression Henry, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Wednesday, July 18.
NDRRMC spokesperson Edgar Posadas said a total of P2.9 million worth of agricultural products were damaged as rains brought by the southwest monsoon enhanced by TD Henry battered most of Luzon and the Visayas.
In its report, the NDDRMC said a total of 2,401 families or 7,949 persons were affected in Central Luzon, Mimaropa and the National Capital Region (NCR).
It said 2,382 families or 7,880 persons are being served inside evacuation centers while other families have sought help from their relatives.
The agency also reported that a total of 482 passengers, seven vessels, 12 motorbancas were stranded in ports due to bad weather.
It said 23 houses were reported to be partially damaged in Central Luzon.
A total of 116 barangays were also reported to be flooded in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Cavite, Occidental Mindoro and in several areas in the NCR.
Posadas said the number is still expected to go up as more information are being consolidated.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said they were monitoring anew a weather disturbance, a low pressure area turned tropical depression which has been named Inday.
It said TD Inday may turn into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours although it is not expected to make landfall anywhere in the country.
It was last spotted at 660 km east southeast of Basco, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 65 kph as it moved east at 15 kph.
The weather bureau said it is expected to bring intermittent moderate to occasional heavy monsoon rains over the Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan.
It said it is expected to be outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Saturday morning, July 21. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)