Three injured in Cagayan as ''Florita'' exits PAR
Three people were injured after being hit by debris from falling trees during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm ''Florita'', which left the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in Cagayan.
This was reported by Ruelie Rapsing, Cagayan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer, during the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing on Wednesday.
"We have not recorded any casualty due to Severe Tropical Storm Florita although we reported three minor injuries, this is due to falling branches of trees, they have bruises but no serious injuries," he said.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), ''Florita'' affected thousands of people before it finally left PAR on Wednesday morning.
As of 8 am, the NDRRMC has recorded a total of 1,344 families or 4,646 persons affected by Florita, of which 311 families or 956 individuals were being served inside the 19 evacuation centers in Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions and Cordillera Administrative Region.
However, Rapsing noted that around 3,000 families or 9,000 were evacuated in 19 municipalities of Cagayan.
"We conducted a pre-emptive (evacuation) prior to the landfall of Florita. In 131 barangays we evacuated 3,000 families, 9,000 individuals in 19 municipalities," he said.
As of Wednesday, Rapsing said the weather is improving.
"Now it is just cloudy and windy with scattered rain showers," he said.
"We are just waiting for the threshold of the water in Cagayan (river) to decrease, as of now the last monitoring is it is still eight meters deep, we are waiting for it to lower to five meters so that there will be no under water barangay," he added.
The NDRRMC said seven roads and 7 bridges affected by the landslides and flooding in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Bicol and Cordillera Administrative Region remain not passable.
Rapsing said nine roads and bridges on Cagayan are still not passable as of Wednesday.
Eight municipalities in llocos and Cagayan Valley are still experiencing power outages while one area in Ilocos is experiencing water supply problems due to damage to the distribution pipeline.
Work in all government offices in 98 cities and municipalities in Ilocos and Cagayan Valley as well as the classes in all schools in 275 cities and municipalities of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol, West Visayas and CAR were suspended because of ''Florita''.
The NDRRMC said nine ports in Bicol and West Visayas were non-operational or had suspended trips due to the weather disturbance. Robina Asido/DMS
