Disaster officials reported on Tuesday that two people perished in the wake of Typhoon Bising, even as the number of flooded villages in the Visayas had swelled.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), meanwhile, said about 765 farmers and fisherfolk in two regions have lost P45.93 million worth of produce due to the damage caused by the typhoon to some 1,599 hectares of farmland.
The Philippine Coast Guard also reported that search and rescue teams were scouring the waters of Surigao del Norte for crewmen of a vessel that had ran aground.
The two fatalities—47-year-old woman from Catmon, Cebu, and a 79-year-old man from St. Bernard, Southern Leyte—died after they were struck by falling trees, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.
In its latest damage report, the DA said Bising damaged 3,009 metric tons (MT) of farm produce in Bicol region and Eastern Visayas, which include rice, corn, assorted vegetables and fruits, as well as livestock.
Based on the DA’s report, the bulk of the damage was recorded in the corn sector. DA data showed that Bising damaged 971 hectares of corn farms with an estimated volume loss of 2,548 MT worth P35.08 million.
DA data showed that damage to the rice sector has reached P8.38 million as Bising affected 566 hectares with an estimated production loss of 461 MT.
DA data also showed that 63 hectares of high-value crops have been affected with a production loss pegged at P2.46 million.
About 35 heads of chickens, ducks, and turkeys were also affected by Bising with a total worth of P15,300, according to the DA.
The DA said the figures are still subject to validation.
Bising battered Visayas and Bicol region over the weekend and until Monday as it moved near the province of Catanduanes, with its strong rain, triggering flooding and landslides.
Several roads were also closed to traffic due to flooding, which damaged several infrastructure in the Caraga region, including a port and two seawalls.
At least 12,913 families or 50, 523 individuals in Bicol and Region 8 were preemptively evacuated, some of them having been moved to government-run evacuation centers.
The NDRRMC said 56 barangays were flooded in Region 8. It is yet to receive a compiled report on Bising’s effects in the Bicol region where local officials undertook forced evacuation.
The Coast Guard through its spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said that teams were searching for the 20 crewmen of LCT Cebu Great Ocean, which ran aground along the shoreline of Barangay Cantapoy, Malimono, Surigao del Norte at around 3:38 p.m. on Monday.
The vessel was loaded with nickel ore and contains approximately 2,000 liters of diesel oil.
Balilo said that based on the last communication of the station commander of the Coast Guard in Surigao del Norte with the crewmen on Monday morning, the life raft of the distressed crew members was still drifting, although two members have been separated from the crew.
“The search and rescue operations were ongoing,” Balilo said.