A low pressure area intensified into a tropical depression as the Caraga region braces for more rains even at least 80,000 persons are still in evacuation centers due to bad weather for the last two weeks.

Tropical Depression Bising was sighted 450 kilometers east of Hinatuan with winds of 45kph and gusts of up to 55 kph, weather forecaster Robb Gile said Saturday. It was moving northwest at 11 kph.

Some cities and municipalities in the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, including Butuan City, were placed under state of calamity because of rains during the previous weeks.

Fatalities from drowning in the province of Agusan Del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Butuan City rose to five. Three are missing inAgusan del Sur and two from Surigao del Sur were injured.

The Office Civil Defense (OCD) said a total of 14,854 families or 81,222 individuals were still in 197 evacuation centers in the affected provinces.

Gile said the whole area of Mindanao, including Caraga Region, is experiencing cloudy skies with light to moderate rain and isolated thunderstorms as Bising became a tropical depression on Friday.

Gile said the weather situation is expected to persist within the next two to three days.

Gile said this area of Mindanao has been having bad weather since last month.

More than 300 million pesos worth of damage to agriculture and infrastructure were recorded in the Caraga Region because of floods.

In its latest report, the regional Office of Civil Defense recorded a total of 319,632,894.00 pesos worth of damage to infrastructure and farm products.

Most of infrastructure damage is in the province of Agusan del Norte, Agusan Del Sur, Dinagat Island and Butuan City worth 229,834,500.00 pesos.

A total of 89,798,394.00 pesos worth of agricultural products including rice, corn, livestock’s and fisheries were destroyed because of the weather disturbance in the northeastern side of Mindanao.

A total of 1,837 homes were affected, of which 1,222 were destroyed while 613 were partially damaged. Robina Asido/DMS.