BY AARON RECUENCO
Typhoon “Quinta” has killed at least 16 persons and left P737 million in agriculture and infrastructure damage, the Office of Civil Defense reported Thursday.
OCD spokesman Mark Timbal said the fatalities and four missing persons were reported in Bicol, Southern Tagalog, Western, and Central Visayas.
Most of the fatalities, according to Timbal, died due to drowning.
Timbal said assessment of damage is ongoing in affected areas and as of Thursday, damage to agriculture was P705 million and almost P31 million in infrastructure.
He said Region 4-A or the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area reported P573 million in agricultural damage.
Bicol region was next with P92 million followed by Western Visayas with P35 million.
Calabarzon also reported the most damage in infrastructure with P20 million, followed by Central Luzon with P8 million, and Region 4-B or the Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan area with P2.8 million.
Timbal said almost 30,000 houses were damaged due to strong winds and flash floods, more than 2,000 of them were totally damaged.
He said there are still 16,830 families composed of 65,579 people still staying in evacuation centers. The other affected families are staying with their relatives and friends. (Aaron Recuenco)
