EGAY'S WRATH. Rescuers continue evacuation works in Santa Ana town, Cagayan province even as Typhoon Egay starts to veer away from the province on Wednesday (July 26, 2023). The typhoon is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy of MDRRMO-Santa Ana)
TUGUEGARAO CITY – A 52-year-old woman died after a coconut tree fell on her while she was peddling "pandesal" on board her bicycle at Barangay Villa Carmen in Ramon town, Isabela province on Wednesday.
Disaster officials identified the victim as Ofelia Daculan, a resident of Barangay Pagrang-ayan in Ramon.
Ramon Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) head Jevy Claudette Santiago Gabriel said Daculan was on her daily grind of selling bread using her bicycle with a sidecar and apparently failed to notice the falling tree at around 5:55 a.m.
The tree, hit by strong winds brought by Typhoon Egay, hit her head, causing her instant death.
Meanwhile, a landslide was reported in Barangay Temblique, Baggao town, the regional DRRMO said. No one was hurt in the incident.
A soil erosion also destroyed the kitchen of a house in Centro Norte, Gattaran town. The occupants were reported safe.
Floods submerged the Palloc Elementary School and low-lying houses in Ballesteros town.
Fallen trees in Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya province and Santa Ana in Cagayan province were cleared early Wednesday.
The Cagayan provincial capitol’s frontage signage was also destroyed due to heavy rains and winds.
The typhoon affected 4,925 families or 16,031 people from 22 towns and a city in Cagayan on Wednesday. Out of the affected villagers, at least 3,580 or 11,532 people trooped to evacuation centers while others stayed with their relatives.
In Isabela, 183 families were evacuated to higher grounds in the coastal towns of Maconacon, Divilacan and Palanan.
The Baculud, Cansan-Bagutari and Santa Maria-Cabagan bridges in the province were submerged in floodwaters as rains induced by the typhoon caused the Cagayan River and other tributaries to swell, the local disaster offices reported.
In Cagayan, the bridges of Nattallag, Sisim and its detour, Sisim-Bugatay and San Roque-Sisim, all in Peñablanca town and the bridges of Bagunot and San Isidro-Taytay in Baggao town were submerged in floodwaters, regional disaster council reports showed.
Typhoon Egay (international name Doksuri) first made landfall over Fuga Island in Aparri, Cagayan, around 3:10 a.m. on Wednesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
At around 10 a.m., a second landfall occurred on Dalupiri Island also in Aparri, the state weather bureau said in its bulletin.
Egay was packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gusts of up to 240 kph, PAGASA said. It is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Thursday morning. (PNA)
