P'sinan aggie losses, infra damage placed at P182 M

LINGAYEN, Pangasinaan, Philippines  – Typhoon “Mina,” which triggered several days of heavy rains that flooded a number of cities and towns in this province, left agricultural losses and infrastructure damage initially estimated at more than P182 million, authorities said yesterday.

Avenix Arenas, spokesperson of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told The STAR that agricultural losses, as of Wednesday, were placed at P137,887,428, including damage to high-value commercial crops, palay, corn, fishery, livestock and poultry.

Damage to infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and irrigation canals, was estimated at P44.2 million.

Arenas said the typhoon affected half of the province’s three cities and 21 towns.    

She said parts of Calasiao and Sta. Barbara towns remained flooded as of yesterday.

Two children died in a landslide in San Fabian town, while 10 houses were totally destroyed in the province. 

Meanwhile, engineer Valeriano Barro of the National Power Corp. yesterday said the possibility that San Roque Dam would release water “is very remote now that rainfall had stopped and there’s no more typhoon.”

As of 6 a.m. yesterday, the dam’s water level was 275.62 meters above sea level, power generation reached 303 megawatts, and water outflow was measured at 199 cubic meters per second. The dam’s spillway gates remained closed, reports said.