Quirino under state of calamity

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Just as typhoon "Queenie" battered Northern Luzon yesterday, aggravating flooding in several villages in Cagayan Valley, including this city, officials of Quirino province declared a state of calamity due to the havoc wreaked by the previous typhoon, "Paeng."

Regional disaster management officials said "Queenie," packing maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometers per hour (kph), caused flooding in at least 30 villages in southern Cagayan, including this city, as well as in Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Quirino, forcing at least 15,000 families to flee to safer grounds.

Reports reaching the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said the typhoon placed Quirino under total blackout, while the central and northern areas of Aurora suffered power outages.

According to the NDCC, floodwaters in four barangays in Casiguran, Aurora — Poblacion, Marikit, Tabas, and Calangcuasan — reached two feet high.

The Baler-Casiguran and Nueva Ecija-Aurora roads were rendered impassable to all types of vehicles due to fallen electric posts, uprooted trees and heavy floods, the NDCC said.

President Arroyo presided over the NDCC disaster briefing at Camp Aguinaldo at noon yesterday, and was informed by Anthony Rolando Golez, officer-in-charge of the Office of Civil Defense, that all regional, provincial and municipal disaster preparedness teams were on alert.

"Queenie," according to weather forecasters, weakened, with winds of 170 kph, before noon yesterday after it made a landfall near Casiguran, Aurora.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier raised a four-step warning signal, placing Aurora, Quirino and Isabela under storm signal No. 4 due to "Queenie’s" strength.

"Queenie" was forecast to be at 310 kilometers west-northwest of Iba, Zambales this afternoon. Residents of Bulacan and Pampanga were warned of possible flash floods as the typhoon heads toward the South China Sea.

The Coast Guard banned all vessels yesterday from sailing to seven northern provinces placed under storm signal No. 3.

Meanwhile, just as "Queenie" was drenching Quirino, Gov. Pedro Bacani declared a state of calamity for the immediate rehabilitation of areas still reeling from the wrath of typhoon "Paeng."

"Our province was one of the most devastated during the previous typhoon and we are now ensuring efforts that, God willing, this will not be repeated," Bacani said.

"Paeng" left eight fatalities and five missing in Quirino, as well as P500 million in crop losses, at least P200 million of which involved bananas, one the province’s major crops.

Officials of the National Irrigation Administration at the Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela decided to release water even before "Queenie" pounded the region to ease pressure on the dam and to prevent further flooding in low-lying villages in northern Isabela and southern Cagayan.

A number of these villages remain isolated, including at least 50 communities along the Cagayan River in Ilagan town, the capital of Isabela, due to floods spawned by "Paeng." — With Jaime Laude, Helen Flores and Evelyn Macairan