Ilocos Norte placed under state of calamity due to ‘Ineng’

FILE: RESCUED. Pet owners in Laoag City secure their animals in a makeshift shelter due to massive floods brought about by ‘Ineng’ on Saturday (Aug. 24, 2019). On the same day, the city council of Laoag declared the city under state of calamity. (PNA photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)

LAOAG CITY — Ilocos Norte was placed under a state of calamity due to severe flooding brought about by monsoon rains and the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ineng on Saturday (August 24).

In a special session held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall on Saturday afternoon, members of the Ilocos Norte board unanimously approved a resolution declaring the province under state of calamity.

As of Sunday, the initial estimated damage to infrastructure and agriculture have reached nearly PHP292 million.

The damaged infrastructure worth PHP271 million include flood and river control projects, roads, bridges, irrigation facilities, and schools while estimated damage in agriculture was placed at PHP20.

6 million.

According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Resiliency Council (PDRRMRC), Pauleen Joy Corpus, a 17-year-old resident of Sta. Catalina, Pasuquin, was killed in a landslide. Two others identified as Princess Shalane Trumpo, 11, and John Llyod Trumpo, 9, were injured.

Another fatality identified as Ricky Manglallan, 37, drowned while rescuing the flood victims in Laoag City which was also placed under state of calamity by the city council.

Massive floods on Saturday have affected 4,595 families or more than 18,000 individuals in 110 barangays in Ilocos Norte.

“For 47 years of staying here at Castro Avenue, it’s only now that our house was flooded,” said Laoag resident Bella Navarro on her Facebook post with photos showing knee-deep water inside their kitchen.

Provincial roads along Batac-Rayuray, Vintar-Tamdagan and Vintar-Pallas are now declared passable.

Cynthia Iglesias, head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said a 50-millimeter per hour volume of water recorded on Saturday was beyond normal.

“If our rivers and waterways are okay, we could have lessened the impact of flooding,” she said.

Iglesias said beyond normal rainfall is expected for the month of August and September, reminding the public to take precautionary measures.