Typhoon Maring has claimed nine lives, injured three individuals, rendered one missing, and displaced more than 10,000 families in the Cordillera when it struck Northern Luzon last week.
Those who died – three in Baguio City and six in Benguet – were due to soil erosions that buried their homes at the height of the typhoon that dumped 625.3 millimeters of rainfall for 24 hours from Oct. 11 to 12 that surpassed the rainfall of some of the strongest typhoons to hit the country in the past 15 years.
As of Oct. 13, the Office of the Civil Defense-Cordillera reported the typhoon affected 40,906 individuals from the 10,199 families who were served in various evacuation centers and in other areas where they sought refuge.
Ninety-two houses were reported damaged in various areas in the region while 27 roads and one bridge remain impassable.
The typhoon has also cost the region’s agriculture sector an initial of P340,377,100.08 worth of damage to crops, livestock and poultry, and fishery while the amount of damage to the 57 infrastructures that were damaged was not readily available.
The damage incurred by infrastructures, mostly classrooms, was due to erosions due to soil saturation and flooding.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Cordillera also reported it has provided P1.1 million worth of assistance to the affected families of which P837,318 were in the form of family food packs and P175,681 for hygiene kits.
The storm also caused massive power interruption that affected 44 municipalities, including Baguio City.
Visible in Typhoon Maring’s 24-hour onslaught last week were the occurrences of flashfloods even in areas of the region with higher elevation like Buguias in Benguet.
In Baguio, several houses are still submerged. – Jane B. Cadalig
