LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The estimated damage to agriculture and infrastructure in Pangasinan due to Severe Tropical Storm Kristine has reached P863.34 million, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) reported on Friday.
In his situational report as of 5 p.m. on Friday, PDRRMO chief Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro said that damage to agriculture was P241.39 million, while damage to infrastructure was P622.05 million.
Agriculture damage included P123.55 million worth of palay (unmilled rice), P5.21 million worth of corn, P44.82 million worth of fruits, P1.98 million worth of vegetables and P64.87 worth of fisheries.
Hardest-hit areas were San Manuel town with P45.46 million worth of palay destroyed, Mangaldan with P12.56 million worth of fruit trees destroyed, and Dagupan City, which lost P34.42 million worth of bangus (milkfish) to the sea.
Oro also reported that 51 villages in 10 towns were flooded while 33 coastal villages in seven towns and two cities were hit by storm surge.
Some 42 houses were also damaged because of strong winds spawned by Kristine as it crossed Luzon to exit to the West Philippine Sea on October 24.
As the skies cleared on Saturday, five evacuation centers in Dagupan City had closed, but 16 more evacuation centers in 14 villages continued to accommodate 509 families because of flooding in their villages.
On Friday, the Sangguniang Panlungsod held a special session and passed a resolution placing Dagupan City under a state of calamity.
As of 9 a.m. on Saturday, the water level at the Sinocalan River in Santa Barbara town has exceeded its normal level, according to the PDRRMO.
Sinocalan, which is one of Pangasinan major river systems, has its headwaters on Mt. Ampucao in Benguet province, and cuts through the towns of San Manuel, Binalonan, Laoac, Mapandan, Santa Barbara and Calasiao, and Dagupan City before exiting to the Lingayen Gulf.
In San Manuel town, the San Roque Dam had closed its spillway at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
The dam opened one of its spillway gates on October 23 to lower its water elevation in anticipation of the expected heavy inflow due to Kristine.
As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, San Roque Dam has a water elevation of 276.69 meters above sea level (masl), about 3.31 meters from its maximum level of 280 masl.
Located downstream of the Agno River, the dam catches the water spilled by Binga Dam upstream of the river in Itogon, Benguet.
The Binga Dam had closed four of its spillways, leaving only two spillways open at half meter each and releasing water at 124 cubic meters per second (cms).
The dam's water level was 574.01 masl, just 0.99 meter from its maximum level of 575 masl.
The Ambuklao Dam has also reduced the amount of water it was releasing to the Agno River by closing three spillways. Only one spillway is now open at 0.5 meter, discharging water at 55 cms.
Floods destroy over P10.45-M crops in Ilagan City
Thousands of hectares of agricultural land here were flooded due to the heavy downpour brought by Typhoon Kristine, as a result of which more than P10.45 million in crops were destroyed, according to the city government.
City public information officer Paul Bacungan noted that based on the initial data from the Department of Agriculture in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), some 1,366 hectares of rice fields in this city were inundated.
Bacungan said around 638 cornfields were also damaged by the flood, of which 285 hectares were newly planted and 353 hectares are in the reproductive stage.
During the onslaught of the typhoon, floodwaters have reached the roofs of some houses in this city, especially those near the Baculud Bridge and other low-lying areas.
Some roads in the city became impassable due to floodwaters and used jet skis for residents to cross heavily flooded areas.
Bacungan said the city government continues to distribute relief goods to affected individuals.