Kabayan's toll: 11,000 people displaced, P20-M property damage

Tropical storm "Kabayan" (international name: Peipah) left over 11,000 people displaced and some P20 million worth of property damaged in two affected regions in Northern Luzon. This is on top of the five deaths it caused, a disaster response official said on Tuesday. National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) executive officer Glenn Rabonza said 3,425 families or 11,434 persons were forced to flee their homes in Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) due to heavy rains and floods brought by the storm. While most of the families displaced by the storm have returned to their homes, 15 families remain in evacuation centers. Most of the affected families are from the worst-hit Cagayan Valley where 3,341 families or 10,934 persons were displaced. In CAR, 84 families or 500 persons were affected. Rabonza also revealed that initial estimates on the damages to property incurred from the weather disturbance was close to P20 million. CAR suffered most of the damages estimated at P17.8 million mainly on infrastruction, the official said. As of yesterday, the NDCC official said five people died and one remain missing due to the storm. The fatalities, which included six-year-old Alberto Liban and 86-year-old Alejandria Ponce, are all from the province of Isabela. - GMANews.TV