Typhoon, quake leave P.12-B damage in E. Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY — Infrastructure and agricultural produce worth an estimated P120 million were damaged due to typhoon "Weng" and a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck Eastern Visayas this month, an Office of Civil Defense (OCD) official said.

Adrian Fuego, OCD regional chief, said Northern Samar was the hardest-hit province in the region, sustaining P86.364-million typhoon damage to infrastructure, fisheries and agriculture.

The howler, which battered the province last Nov. 13, killed a four-year-old boy, displaced 16,525 families and destroyed 813 houses.

Six days later, a strong earthquake struck Northern and Eastern Samar, collapsing public buildings and bridges with damage estimated at P8.6 million in Northern Samar alone.

The hardest-hit town was Can-avid in Eastern Samar where damage to property and infrastructure was placed at about P30 million.

A five-year-old boy was killed and 26 other residents of the two Samar provinces were injured by falling debris during the temblor. Some 1,000 families were affected.