Landslides, flooding and a tornado brought by Tropical Storm “Kristine” led to the deaths of five people, destroyed 43 houses and caused over P872 million in damage to infrastructure and agricultural crops, including an initial P574 million to the abaca sector alone.
In its “final” situation report on the calamity, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said that the storm affected a total of 18,940 families or 67,340 individuals in 290 barangays of the province, with over 3,100 families enduring over a day in evacuation centers.
Five casualties were reported, with four of them members of the same family whose house was hit by a landslide in Sabloyon, Caramoran in the early morning of Oct. 23, 2024 (see separate story at the backpage).
The four fatalities in the landslide at Sitio Otsenta along the Panganiban-Sabloyon national secondary road were identified as Lodelyn Docillo, 22, and her nieces Razzlyn Tuldac, 8, Alvin Aguirre, 4, and one-year-old Princess Aguirre.
The fifth death was recorded in Bagamanoc town at 10:00 AM of Oct. 22 as Roque Villasana Vistal was fixing scaffolding for the repair of their roof in barangay San Isidro in preparation for the storm. The 71-year-old farmer reportedly slipped from the second floor of the house and fell on the steel fence, part of which pierced his neck.
He was rushed by a barangay tanod to the Viga District Hospital where the attending physician, Dr. Quennie T. Usero, declared Vistal dead at around noon of the same day due to hypovolemic shock caused by severe blood loss.
Thirteen persons were also injured during the storm’s passage, including six in Sitio Otsenta: couple Garry Aguirre and Ivy Docillo-Aguirre, their sons Ivan, 9, Calvin Gee, 8, and Garvin, 7, and Ivy’s father Domingo, 57.
The others are who sustained abrasions, lacerations or puncture wounds are all from Virac: Dazzle Pineda, 18, of Calatagan Proper; John Carl Taller, 15, of Simamla; Efren Ramirez, 57, of Palta Salvacion; Dexter Magtagnob, 33, of Bigaa; Ronie San Juan, 55, of San Juan; Joseph Socito, 41, of Capilihan; and Viel Margaux, 5, of Francia.
At least 10 roads and bridges in several towns were either not passable or limited to one lane only due to flooding, with all national roads open to traffic except the landslide-stricken section of the Panganiban-Sabloyon road.
Kristine caused P216 million in damage to public infrastructure, with national and provincial roads needing at least P176 million for repair and rehabilitation while damage to bridges was placed at P3 million.
Flood control structures also sustained another P36.5 million in damage while other facilities such as police stations and water supply systems suffered a minimal P377,000.
During the five days that sea travel to the island was suspended, the provincial government spent about P1.5 million for the meals of 693 passengers stranded at the still unrepaired Tabaco Port terminal, with 275 of them mostly senior citizens, women with children and other vulnerable individuals billeted at Tabaco National High School to save them from exposure to the elements.
The storm also stranded five cargo trucks and 20 light vehicles at the port.
The Provincial Agricultural Support Office (PASO) stated that a total of 10,796 farmers were affected by the calamity, which caused a total production loss of P83,071,274.80, excluding that of the abaca sector as the Philippine Fiber Industry Authority (PhilFIDA) has yet to complete its assessment of the heavily damaged plantations.
Over P52 million in damage was sustained by the rice sector while just over a million were lost by livestock and poultry industry to flooding.
Fisheries, including fish sanctuaries, boats and dikes, were damaged to the tune of P10.6 million, with producers of High Value Commercial Crops losing a total of P19 million.
The biggest hit was borne by the abaca industry, with PhilFIDA reporting P574 million to nearly 10,000 hecares of abaca plantations tended by over 13,000 farmers.
Around 1,300 hectares were assessed to have sustained slight damage, another 2,900 hectares were moderately damaged while 5,600 hectares had heavy damage.
PhilFIDA provincial fiber officer Roberto Lusuegro stated that the heavily damaged plants were bent 25 degrees, with twisted, broken stalks and leaves, or the entire plant is uprooted.
This resulted in fiber loss of nearly 8,000 metric tons, representing over 36 percent of the estimated total annual fiber production of 22,000 MT.
He said that P134 million is needed to enable its development and rehabilitation.
As of Sunday morning, the damage would need around P27 million for development and rehabilitation.
Forty-three houses were destroyed by Kristine and 761 were partially damaged, including the three houses that crumpled in Panique, Caramoran due to a tornado. The other totally damaged houses are in Viga (15), Virac (9), Baras (6), Pandan (5), and Bagamanoc (5).
Based on reports from municipal DRRMOs, the PDRRMO said that flooding was reported in Virac (5 barangays), Caramoran (2), Panganiban (1), and San Andres (6).
Early during the passage of the storm on Oct. 22, a fire also broke out at the warehouse of a construction company in Sipi, Bato, with fire trucks from the town, Virac and San Miguel responding to the call for assistance.
In its report, the Bato municipal police station said that at 8 AM, while the JYM Construction Supply driver/caretaker Eduardo Villamer Infeliz, 55, a native of Baao, Camarines Sur, was taking a bath at the comfort room of the warehouse, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
When he opened it, he was informed by a neighbor that there was a fire at the warehouse owned by Marieta Albis of Iriga City, so he immediately sought help from nearby residents.
Minutes later, firetrucks from the fire stations of Bato and Virac as well as that of Aljon Construction and Development Corporation (ACDC) arrived to suppress the blaze, with Bato PNP personnel led by police chief PMaj. Kenneth Ding C. Gutierrez cordoning the area and handling traffic.
Damage caused by the fire, which was blamed on faulty wiring, was placed at somewhere between P300,000 to P400,000.