By Othel V. Campos
SUPER Typhoon “Lando” damaged P5.9 billion worth of crops and livestock in Luzon, where 33 people died and rescuers continued to pour into the hard-hit areas to bring relief.
In Isabela and Cagayan, the Office of Civil Defense said the damage to fishponds, fish cages and fishing boats reached P5,817,562, while the damage to the agriculture sector in Luzon reached P4,253,650.
Lando submerged at least 497 areas in Region 2, where the hardest hit were Cagayan and Isabela with 185 and 154, respectively, followed by Region 3 with 96.
Regional disaster reports said 446,322 people were affected by Lando’s and that they remained in various evacuation centers.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Lando damaged 73 road networks and 24 bridges.
The Quirino, Kalinga, Nueva Viscaya, Aurora and Mountain Province remained without power while three cities and 55 municipalities in regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A and 4-B and the Cordilleras were still experiencing power interruptions.
In Aurora, soldiers from the 703rd Infantry Brigade based in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, aboard four Air Force choppers landed in Baler to help the typhoon victims.
Elements of the 56th Infantry Battalion based in Baler town continued clearing the major roads of debris and penetrating isolated areas particularly in Casiguran, Dilasag and Dinalungan, the hardest hit areas.
In Gabaldon, a rice-producing town in Nueva Ecija, rice fields were covered by mud and boulders that cascaded down from the Sierra Madre ridges.
The town connecting to Laur, Nueva Ecija, was also isolated as the link bridge collapsed.
In Bulacan, many villages remained flooded up to waist deep, but the floods had started to recede as the weather improved.