THE CAGAYAN provincial government reported over P1.8 billion in damage from last week’s typhoon Quiel, mainly on infrastructure and the rest in crops and livestock. In a statement on Thursday, the local government said P1.6 billion worth of infrastructure, including houses and public facilities, were fully or partially destroyed. In agriculture, damage was assessed at 207.7 million for farms and P2.7 million in livestock. Citing data gathered by the Provincial Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Cagayan said 16 of its 28 towns were flooded, affecting almost 39,000 families. Most of them have already gone back home, but relief operations are continuing and the province is again bracing this week for the onslaught of tropical storm Ramos, which is expected to affect Cagayan and other northern Luzon areas until the weekend. Among the preemptive measures undertaken was the release of water from the Magat Dam, a major tributary to the Cagayan River, on Thursday morning to bring down the “dam elevation before the arrival of typhoon Ramon and while the level of water at Tuguegarao is low to avoid damages to lives and property.”

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