MANILA, 25 July 2003 — Typhoon Imbudo’s death toll rose to 21 yesterday as more bodies were recovered, officials said yesterday.
Most of the dead were swept away by flash floods or crushed by landslides and fallen trees when Imbudo ripped through the Philippines from Sunday to Monday.
The typhoon, aptly named by local meteorologists as “Harurot” or speed, was the strongest to hit the Philippines in five years with more than 210 kilometers per hour of center winds.
A tally by various government agencies yesterday showed that 10 of those killed were in the northern and central Philippines and 11 perished in flashfloods in the main southern island of Mindanao.
Damage to crops was placed at about 1.09 billion pesos ($20.3 million) worth of crops in the Philippines this week, officials said yesterday.
Preliminary estimates on damage to infrastructure was placed at 258.93 million pesos.
A report by the Civil Defense Office said at least 11,000 people remained in government evacuation centers yesterday. Most of the evacuaees were in parts of some 20 towns in northern Luzon.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited Isabela province, one of the heaviest hit by Imbudo, and promised funds to help rehabilitate farms and infrastructure destroyed in Cagayan Valley region.
Cagayan Valley in the north is one of the main rice and corn suppliers in the country.
Isabela Vice Governor Santiago Respicio said the province lost 613.69 million pesos worth of crops and livestock and 46.37 million pesos in infrastructure.
Cagayan Gov. Edgar Lara said his province lost 253 million pesos in crops and infrastructure, while Quirino Gov. Pedro Bacani said his province lost 212 million pesos in crops. (Additional input from agencies)
The Department of Public Works and Highways heavy landslides were have isolated many villages in the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
