by: Jose Robert Inventor
The province of Kalinga has been placed under a state of calamity after Super Typhoon Uwan left extensive damage across several towns, with agricultural losses now estimated at 15.6 million pesos.
In Barangay Western Uma, Lubuagan, the search and rescue team continued operations for a local village councilor buried by a landslide at the height of the storm.
Volunteers focused on a specific section of the mountain where signs of the missing man’s body were reportedly found.
Provincial Public Information Officer Dionica Alyssa Legasi said via phone interview that the local government had deployed personnel to monitor nearby river areas. “The community requested our governor to send people from the PDRRMO to watch the lower part of the river near the incident area,” she explained.
Photos from the Schools Division of Kalinga showed classrooms at Lubo Elementary School filled with thick mud and debris, while some buildings were nearly destroyed after logs were washed into school grounds.
Coordination efforts with local government units are ongoing to establish temporary classrooms for affected students, Legasi added.
Fourteen major roads across Kalinga remain impassable due to floods and landslides.
In Tanudan town, residents worked together to build a temporary bamboo bridge after the Pongod Bridge was destroyed by the overflowing Wagud Creek.
The provincial government has requested assistance from the Philippine Air Force for airlifts to reach isolated areas faster. “The damage is extensive, and some areas still have no power, making it difficult to consolidate reports,” Legasi noted.
Based on the latest report from the Kalinga PDRRMO, over 2,300 families, equivalent to more than 9,400 individuals, were affected by the typhoon, while 284 houses were damaged.
Legasi said, “Almost the entire province, seven municipalities and one city, was affected. That’s why the PDRRMC passed a resolution declaring Kalinga under a state of calamity.”
Rapid risk assessments are now underway to determine further assistance for affected communities.
