SITUATIONAL REPORT ON TYPHOON “INENG” INTERNATIONAL NAME “GONI” (August 24, 2015)
As of 11:00 PM August 23, 2015, Typhoon Ineng (international name “Goni”) is located 525 Km Northeast of Basco, Batanes with a strength of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to210 kph and forecast to move North Northeast at 15 kph towards southern island of Japan. From August 20-22, 2015, Typhoon Ineng hit the Cordillera Region with public storm warning signals (PSWS) #1 raised in Benguet, Ifugao and Mt. Province while the provinces of Apayao, Kalinga and Abra were under PWS#2.
Though the Provinces of Benguet and Mt. Province were under PSWS1, Typhoon Ineng brought heavy rains and strong winds. In Baguio City only, 503 millimetre of rainfall was recorded resulting to saturation of soils that caused series of landslides and overflowing of creeks and rivers. At present the Province of Benguet is under State of Emergency.
DEATH, INJURED AND MISSING
As of August 23, 2015, reports from media and interviews from government officials revealed that the death toll reached to 15 persons; 12 in Benguet, 1 in Abra, and 2 in Mt. Province of which 13 of them died due to landslide and 2 due to drowning. A total of 15 persons are still missing, 14 in Taneg, Mankayan, Benguet wherein their shanties were swept by mudflow and debris towards a river and 1 believed to be drowned in Abra. Search and retrieval operation is on-going. Moreover, 11 persons were reported injured due to landslides, hit by fallen trees or carried by water current.
On August 23, 2015, 3 small scale miners died due to suffocation inside their mine tunnels in Tuding, Itogon, Benguet.
EVACUEES
160 families were evacuated in 8 evacuation centers and relatives as of August 22, 2015 based from DSWD report. In Tabuk Kalinga, 114 families living along the Chico River evacuated particularly from Barangays Calanan and Bado Dangwa due to flooding. In Abra, 68 families evacuated due to danger posed by possible flooding. Families in Benguet, Baguio City and Mt. Province evacuated to their relatives for safety due to endangered houses.
DAMAGES TO ROAD NETWORK AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURES
The 38 roads and 6 bridges in the Cordillera Region are not passable due to sustained large damage caused by landslides. In Apayao Province, 2 national roads connecting the province to Cagayan were closed due to road cut. In Mt. Province, the only passable route to reach the capital town (Bontoc) is via Banaue-Bontoc road. The road connecting Kalinga and Mt. Province is closed due to series of landslides in Bontoc and Sadanga areas. The Halsema Highway that connects the City of Baguio to other municipalities of Benguet and Mt. Province is closed due to road cuts and damaged detour bridge in Nacagang, Sabangan, Mt Province. The Cervantes road which is the entry road from Ilocos Region to Mt. Province and Benguet is blocked.
Meanwhile, Marcos Highway and Naguilian Rd are open but Kennon Rd is closed since August 21 due to big landslides. Roads going to the municipalities of Buguias, Mankayan, Bakun, Kibungan, Itogon, Kapangan and Kabayan in Benguet are close. In other provinces, primary and secondary road networks are still closed. On-going clearing operation is slow due to continuing rains and difficulty to bring clearing facilities to the affected sites despite joint efforts of the different agencies and private contractors.
The closure of this roads resulted to difficulty of transporting goods and stranded commuters all over the region. Basic social services are also disrupted especially bringing patients to the hospital and transporting farmers’ products to market outlets.
There were reported 10 partially damaged houses and 4 totally damaged houses.
POWER SUPPLY INTERRUPTIONS
As early as 8:00 evening of August 21, 2015, power supply was cut due to damaged electric posts, wires and transformers. In Baguio City and adjoining communities in Benguet, there were more than 60 fallen trees that damaged electric wires and posts. For two days (Aug 21-22) 90% was in total darkness in Baguio City, Benguet, and Mt. Province. Restoration of power supply is on-going. Communication facilities of Globe and Smart were also affected which caused weak or no signals.
ON-GOING MONITORING
The Office of the Civil Defence in the Cordillera Region (OCD-CAR) and the DRRMCs from the Provinces to the barangays are still consolidating reports on the exact damages brought by Typhoon Neneng. Reports coming from the community level on the assessment of damages showed that most of their crops were damaged, irrigations and rice fields were covered by landslides or flooded due overflowed river systems besides damaged rice granaries and pathways.