The damage to agriculture due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by the tropical cyclones outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility is nearing one billion pesos.

Based on the assessment made by the field offices of the Department of Agriculture, the damagereported in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Western Visayas has reached P898.4 million.

It affects 24,457 farmers with the volume of production lost amounting to 39,011 metric tons and 34,979 hectares of agricultural areas.

The DA said that rice is 83.6 percent of the affected commodities resulting in damage of P751.5 million , corn which cost P139.2 million, high value crops of P5.5 million and P2.3 million worth of livestock.

In its latest report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) shows that aside from a fatality recorded in Western Visayas, one missing person was also reported in the same region while another one was injured in Central Luzon.

The number of affected population has increased to 112,384 families or 408,053 persons, of which 5,463 families or 22,391 persons were served inside the 277 evacuation centers.

The damage to infrastructure was estimated at P130,251,200 while the damaged houses have reached 502, of which 401 were partially damaged and 101 were destroyed.

As of Saturday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said there are a total of 41 passengers, drivers, and cargo helpers stranded, as well as five vessels that are taking shelters in Southern Tagalog and Western Visayas due to Typhoon ''Hanna''. Robina Asido/DMS