LEGAZPI CITY — Tropical storm “Urduja” left Bicol with PHP19.3-million worth of damages to public infrastructure when it hit the region, particularly Masbate province over the weekend, the Department of Public Works in Highways (DPWH) said on Tuesday.
Lucy Castañeda, DPWH regional information officer, in a phone interview, said per information from their maintenance divisions, only Masbate was heavily affected in Bicol.
Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Norte and Sorsogon were spared of serious damages. All roads in these five provinces are passable, she added.
According to Castañeda, the damaged infrastructure in Masbate include the Banadero Bridge (Tabuc town); Nabangig Bridge (Palanas); Gahit Bridge (Cataingan); Galutan Bridge (Cataingan); and San Fernando-Talisay (San Fernando).
Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Tuesday 49 barangays or villages in Bicol were affected by Urduja, most of them in Masbate.
Thirteen houses in the province’s Dimasalang town were totally damaged while two were partially damaged.
Also, as the weather improved, disaster authorities in Bicol allowed stranded passengers to travel from the ports of Albay, Masbate, Catanduanes and Camarines Sur.
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, according to Claudio Yucot, OCD regional director.
“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 added that 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 Bicol as Urduja passed through the region. (PNA)
