At least a dozen people killed as Typhoon Kammuri leaves
AT least 12 people died after Typhoon Kammuri battered several provinces south of the Philippine capital this week, police said yesterday as the storm left the country.
Kammuri, locally known as Tisoy and the 20th storm to hit the country this year, forced hundreds of thousands of Filipinos to evacuate. Hundreds of flights were also canceled.
Three men were hit by fallen trees in Baco and Pinamalayan towns in Oriental Mindoro, and Gasan in Marinduque, while two more from Pinamalayan died of heart attack, according to an initial report from the regional police office.
Meanwhile, three people drowned in the towns of Bulan in Sorsogon province and Goa and Pili in Camarines Sur, according to regional police spokesperson Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib.
One died of electrocution in Libmanan, Camarines Sur and another died of an unknown cause in an evacuation center in Sorsogon City, she said.
Meanwhile, a resident of Catanuan town in Quezon province died after being hit by a fallen tree, while another was hit by lightning on Polilio Island, police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Chitadel Gaorian said.
The Agriculture department said P532.61 million worth of crops were damaged in Regions IV-A, and V, as Typhoon Kammuri moved west toward the South China Sea.
More than 18,000 metric tons of rice, corn and high-value crops were lost, affecting 14,637 hectares and 3,808 farmers, the agency said in a bulletin issued on Wednesday.
More than 11,000 metric tons of rice worth P318.9 million were damaged in the Calabarzon and Bicol regions, covering 12,435 hectares.
Meanwhile, 1,676 MT of corn worth P67.2 million and covering 1,176 hectares were damaged, while 5,240 MT of high-value crops worth P145.6 million covering 1,025 hectares were lost, the Agriculture department said.
The agency’s regional field offices in the Calabarzon and Bicol regions have rice, corn and vegetable seed reserves that will be given out to farmers, it said.
The department has set aside P250 million to help the agriculture sector, 104,984 bags of rice seeds, 10,811 bags of corn seeds and another P65 million in recovery assistance.
Kammuri made landfall near the city of Gubat in Sorsogon province on Monday evening, clocking maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It also made landfall over Naujan, Oriental Mindoro at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang and Emmanuel Tupas, Philippine Star
