CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines鈥擨t was finally sunny again throughout Central Luzon on Saturday but a pall of gloom remained as authorities assessed damage to agriculture in the region and the initial tally hit P343.1 million, a report from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed.
Damage to livestock and cassava crops in Aurora totalled P1.8 million. Ruined rice, corn and high-value crops in Bataan amounted to P72.2 million; Nueva Ecija, P44.7 million; and Tarlac, P45.2 million.
Losses in livestock and crops in Bulacan reached P40.1 million and in Zambales, P23.1 million.
Pampanga registered the biggest amount of damage or losses鈥擯116.2 million.
As of Friday, the floods in 857 villages in Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales had affected 1,541,945 people or 15 percent of the region鈥檚 population.
So far, 311 evacuation centers were still being maintained鈥�128 in Pampanga, 113 in Bulacan, 31 in Bataan, 26 in Zambales and 13 in Tarlac鈥攆or 51,905 people.
The RDRRMC reported 184 houses destroyed and 267 others damaged.
The rains raised the water levels at the Angat Dam in Bulacan and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija to 200.83 meters above sea level and 192.50 meters above sea level,聽 respectively, without releasing any volume since Sunday when tropical storm 鈥淢aring鈥� enhanced the southwest monsoon in Luzon, the RDRRMC said.
The cost of food and non-food aid given to flood victims amounted to P17 million, with P5.03 million coming from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P6.149 million from the provincial governments and P4.9 million from the municipal聽 governments.
On Saturday, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda said the provincial government and the DSWD were able to enter flooded villages in Apalit and Macabebe towns and was able to deliver relief packs there together with the Department of Health, which was conducting medical missions.
The fatalities in the region climbed to seven, the latest being a drowning victim identified as Ed Paulo Maco, 12, of Barangay Apalit in Floridablanca, Pampanga.
Two men鈥擱odrigo Telles and Michael Silverio鈥攔emained missing since.
All roads and bridges to and from Tarlac were passable on Saturday.