AFTERMATH. Typhoon Karding's effects on the rice plantation in Mangatarem town, Pangasinan following its onslaught on Sept. 26, 2022. The weather disturbance has left the province with initial damage to agriculture worth PHP5.2 million. (Photo courtesy of Raymundo Banaga's Facebook account)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – Typhoon Karding has left the province of Pangasinan with some PHP5.2 million worth of damage to its agriculture sector based on the initial assessment of the provincial government on Tuesday.
In an interview, Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) emergency operations center manager Shallom Balolong said the typhoon has affected over 1,615 hectares of rice field in nine local government units (LGUs) with an initial loss of PHP4.1 million worth of palay.
“Karding” also devastated the corn production of the province which has incurred seven metric tons losses amounting to PHP531,680 in the 18.8 hectares of plantation.
Balolong said the production of high-value crops, such as eggplant, bitter gourd, red onion, and string beans, among others, also incurred PHP561,264 losses in 10 LGUs.
“The validation in the fisheries sector is still ongoing while the livestock industry suffered PHP383,550 worth of losses,” he added.
On the damage to infrastructure, provincial roads in Mabini, San Fabian, and Bautista towns have sustained damage worth PHP450,000.
Balolong said there were 75 reported partially damaged houses and eight totally destroyed houses in the province due to the typhoon.
“Our validation team is still conducting an assessment to come up with the final report on the damages brought by ‘Karding’,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has stockpiled 29,134 family food packs and 12,663 non-food items in its different satellite offices to be distributed to the typhoon-stricken areas in the Ilocos Region.
In a Facebook page of the DSWD Ilocos regional office on Tuesday, the family food packs composed of rice, can goods, and coffee sachets, among others, amounted to PHP18.9 million while the non-food items either hygiene kits or sleeping kits totalled PHP33 million as of Sept. 27.
The DSWD-1 also has PHP8.7-million quick response or standby funds while it has turned over some PHP88,050 worth of assistance to some LGUs and PHP38,540 to other recipients.
The office has mobilized 23 community volunteers at the regional warehouse in San Fernando City, La Union for the repacking of family food packs.
They are also continuously monitoring and validating reports from the affected LGUs to immediately assist them in their relief augmentation needs.
Based on their data, there are 610 families or 2,173 individuals from La Union and Pangasinan who were affected by the typhoon.
Some houses in the region have been partially damaged or were totally wrecked.
There were no casualties reported. (PNA)
