Crops, power supply, roads damaged during Quinta’s onslaught —governors

Crops, power supply systems, and roads were damaged during the onslaught of Typhoon Quinta,  governors of the affected provinces said Monday.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, Quezon Governor Danilo Suarez said that coconut, rice, and banana crops were damaged due to the heavy rainfall and strong winds.

“’Yun ang pinakamahina talaga, 'yun naman talaga kahit na hindi masyadong kalakasan ang bagyo talagang napakahina ng root foundation ng saging,” Suarez said.

“It may take a while bago kami maka-recover sa niyog, sa palayan manageable,” he added.

Suarez said that the 3rd and 4th districts of the province still have no power supply.

He added that some roads are still flooded but passable to vehicles. He noted that the floods in low-lying areas in barangays are still deep.

In a separate interview, Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara said they are still assessing the damage on agriculture in the province.

According to him, some of the roads in Albay were also damaged especially in barangays.

The farmers in Albay failed to harvest their crops before the typhoon.

“Karamihan hindi nakapag-ani dahil hilaw pa, pero due for this November. So maraming na-damage, 'yung iba, baha. So apektado ‘yung agriculture namin lalo na ‘yung mga rice field,” he added.

Some areas in the province encountered power outage due to a damaged transmission line, Bichara said.

In another radio interview, Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco said the agriculture and transportation in the province were also affected due to flooding.

“Meron pong mga kalsada na hindi passable. May mga binaha, ‘yung mga ilang palayan po ay nabaha at mga kalsada,” he said.

Velasco clarified that the power interruption in Marinduque was intentional as a precautionary measure.

“Sadya pong pinatay ‘yun at precautionary measure ‘yun. Ngayon po ay ininspect na ‘yung mga linya at malaman ‘yung naapektuhan at nakikipag-coordinate po kami sa MARELCO, ‘yung electric cooperative,” he said.

Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas said that his area faced the same problems with other provinces. According to him, almost half of Batangas has no power supply.

“Ngayon walang kuryente ang Batangas City, Tanauan, Lipa, at sa munisipyo namin, maraming wala, Bauan, San Pascual, so halos kalahati ng Batangas walang kuryente,” he said.

“Ang mga daan, maraming mga daan ngayon ay sarado,” he added.—AOL, GMA News