Agaton leaves P120-M damage to Butuan infra

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – At least P120 million worth of government infrastructure in this city alone was destroyed by Tropical Depression Agaton, the local office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reported yesterday.

Among those destroyed were roads, bridges, canals, culverts and pavements in the city and in Las Nieves town in Agusan del Norte, according to Joseph Calderon, DPWH-Butuan district engineer.

Calderon said a landslide that damaged a portion of the highway in Barangay De Oro could have been avoided if a concrete riprap had been built on the cliff.

“I was not the district engineer here when that portion of the highway was constructed,” he said as he estimated the damage at P50 million.

Calderon said the highway is the only road going to Davao City, Agusan del Sur and Compostela from Butuan City. He said for the meantime, only one lane of the road is left open for motorists.

Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Caraga said Agaton displaced at least 377,548 people or 78,637 families from the region’s five provinces.

In Butuan alone, 89,440 people or 17,817 families fled their homes as Agusan River overflowed, said Butuan City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) officer Grace Espere.

Marc Gil Calang, spokesperson for OCD-Caraga, told The STAR that as of Wednesday morning, the number of evacuees in 375 evacuation centers have risen to 39,955 families or 189,650 persons.

Eighty-four of Butuan’s 86 barangays were badly affected by Agaton, according to Espere. She said damage to rice farms reached P16 million and corn farms at P5 million while at least 30 hectares of banana plantations and 24 hectares of vegetable farms were damaged.

She said three persons were killed in Butuan City, bringing to 26 the total number of fatalities in Caraga region alone.

Eight municipalities from Agusan del Sur, four from Surigao del Sur, including the province itself, were placed under a state of calamity.