Infra damage in Masbate reaches P19M

By Connie Destura LEGAZPI CITY --- Typhoon “Urduja” hammered Bicol with a P19.3M damage to public infrastructure when it ravaged the region, especially Masbate province, over the weekend, the Department of Public Works in Highways (DPWH) reported on Tuesday. Lucy Castaneda, DPWH regional information officer, in a phone interview Tuesday said all national roads in Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines provinces and Sorsogon are now all passable. Meanwhile, in Masbate, it was estimated that damages to public infrstrcutures in Masbate province have reached P19.3M. Affected major infrastructures in Masbate are Banadero bridge (Tabuc), Nabangig Bridge (Palanas), Gahit Bridge (Cataingan), Galutan Bridge (Cataingan), and San Fernando-Talisay (San Fernando) bridge. “Per information from our maintenance divisions, only Masbate province has so far reported infra damages”, Castaneda said. As the weather normalizes in the Bicol Region, disaster authorities has allowed stranded passengers to travel from the ports of Albay, Masbate, Catanduanes and Camarines Sur, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol said. The Philippine Coast Guard gave the green light after the local weather bureau announced in its advisory that Bicol region’s weather is back to normal, Claudio Yucot, OCD-Bicol director, said. “It is a normal practice that we allow passengers to leave and ships to sail following the lifting of all public storm warning signals over the region,” he said in a phone interview. Yucot said majority of the passengers who were allowed to sail were bound for Samar and Leyte provinces in the Visayas. He said as weather improved, various Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (PDRRMC) and Municipal DRRMCs decamped 1,343 families or 6,132 persons who sought refuge in various evacuation centers in Albay, Camarines provinces, Catanduanes and Sorsogon. OCD-Bicol’s initial report as of Tuesday (Dec 19) indicated that 49 barangays in Bicol were affected by typhoon Urduja. As to damage to property, 13 houses in Dimasalang Masbate were totally damaged while two were partially damaged.