THE damage to infrastructure incurred due to the onslaught of Tropical Storm Paeng (Nalgae) was estimated at nearly P900 million, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRMC) said on Wednesday, November 2, 2022.

In its situational report, the NDRRMC said a total of P896,857,401.73 worth of infrastructure was damaged in Ilocos region, Cagayan, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao.

Bicol region, one of the hardest hit areas by Paeng, has the least number of damaged infrastructure at two, which includes a bridge and a government facility in Caramoan, but it is the highest in terms of cost at P375,179,500.

A total of P1.475 million worth of National Irrigation Administration infrastructure were also damaged in Bicol region.

The Central Visayas incurred P277 million worth of damage to infrastructure, while Northern Mindanao got P110.05 million.

Among the damaged infrastructure were schools, roads, church, seawall, bridges, spillway, riprap, fish port and flood control, utility service and other government facilities.

The estimated damage to agriculture, according to the NDRRMC, was at P1.278 billion. It said over 54,000 farmers and fisherfolk were affected in Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Davao, Northern Mindanao and Cordillera.

Meanwhile, the number of reported fatalities due to the effects of Paeng has further increased to 121 while 36 were still missing.

Of the total reported Paeng-related deaths, 92 were confirmed, of which six were from Capiz, five from Iloilo, six from Aklan, 11 from Antique, one from South Cotabato, two from Sultan Kudarat and 61 from Maguindanao.

Among the causes of deaths were drowning due to flooding/flash flood, landslide and injuries sustained from fallen debris.

The NDRRMC said 927,822 families or 3,180,132 individuals were affected by the weather system in which 49,698 families or 176,337 were in evacuation centers.

A total of P71,590,264.19 worth of assistance have been provided to the affected population. (SunStar Philippines)