Flooding affects 21 provinces from Bicol to Caraga

More than one million people have been affected by floods and landslides caused by heavy rains, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Sunday. Floods and landslides have affected 213,264 families or 1,120,685 people in 1,073 villages of 124 towns and 10 cities in 21 provinces, the NDRRMC said in its early Sunday. report. Of the eight affected regions, Caraga was the most affected with 112,096 families or 601,804 people, followed by Eastern Visayas (35,463 families or 185,675 people) and Bicol (37,514 families or 191,777 people). Recent updates show the death toll has reached 33 while nine remain missing and eight injured. Missing individuals include fishermen Rannie and Ricky Villar, and Joseph, Litoy, and Jerry Soledad. The Office of Civil Defense for Bicol has requested the military to dispatch two Air Force UH1H helicopters to search for the fishermen. According to the NDRRMC, damage to property estimates stood at P747 million, including P174 million in agriculture, P574 million in infrastructure, and P31,300 in private property. Damage to agriculture was greatest in Eastern Visayas — Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Leyte — at P46.230 million. Meanwhile, agricultural damage in Albay and Sorsogon totaled P17.408 million. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that the northeast monsoon is prevailing over Northern and Central Luzon while the diffused tail-end of a cold front that caused the heavy rains are affecting Southern Luzon and Visayas. “Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Northeastern Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and isolated thunderstorms. The rest of Luzon will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated light rains. The rest of Mindanao will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms," PAGASA said in its early Sunday bulletin. It said moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon, Visayas, and Eastern Mindanao, adding the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. PAGASA also said strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the seaboards of Luzon and Visayas. Prepare for worst-case scenario Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Sunday said the "non-stop rains could push the country into an agricultural crisis" unless officials prepare for worst-case scenarios. “The country's agricultural sector has already taken blows from the combined effects of the drought caused by El Niño [weather phenomenon] and series of typhoons that followed it last year. We experienced negative growth in January-September of 2010 [in agriculture]," said Pangilinan, head of the Senate committee on agriculture and food. “Kakaumpisa pa lamang ng taon ngunit malaki na kaagad ang naidulot na pinsala at kahirapan sa ating mga kababayan ang mga baha at walang tigil na pag-ulan. Ang kinababahala ko ay ang mas malaki pang pahirap sa kabuhayan ng ating mga magsasaka kapag nagpatuloy pa ang serye ng tag-ulan at tagtuyot (Barely has the year begun, yet floods and relentless rains have already dealt a heavy blow on our suffering countrymen. I am troubled by the prospect that our farmers' livelihood would worsen still, should this series of deluge and drought continue)," he added. The senator pointed out that Filipinos should take advantage of environment-related data generated by PAGASA, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, and other concerned government agencies “to come up with measures to address the disastrous effects of La Niña to our agricultural sector." La Niña brings about unusually large amounts of rain, and is the opposite of El Niño. “Something must be done right away. The earlier we come up with these measures, the more we can shield our countrymen from a looming disaster and threat to our food security," Pangilinan pointed out. —JE/MRT/VS, GMANews.TV