Zero casualty but no electricity in Cagayan after Ompong —gov

As the weather improved in Cagayan on Sunday morning, the province has started to move on from the devastation left by Typhoon Ompong, which hit northern Luzon on Saturday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB on Sunday, Governor Manuel Mamba said many of the evacuees have started to go home and those that remained in evacuation centers are those whose houses were damaged by the cyclone.

"Ang mga evacuees namin umabot 46,000 individuals [pero] unti-unti umuuwi na. Pero nasa evacuation centers pa rin 'yung iba," he said.

As of Sunday morning, the local government of Cagayan has received no report of any casualty, Mamba said.

"Hopefully wala nang ma-report na casualty kasi at this point zero casualty pa po," he said.

No power

Power, however, has yet to be restored in the whole province, and Mamba said it make take a week before this gets addressed.

"Walang power sa whole province. Baka abutin ng one week, but this is not the worse. Nung Lawin six months bago naibalik [ang kuryente]," he said.

Classes in all levels in the province will remain suspended for Monday, according to Mamba.

Lessons from Lawin

He said their experience with 2016's super typhoon Lawin, which left four people dead, made residents "very cooperative" during the preparations for Ompong.

"We learned a lot. Napaghandaan namin iyon (Lawin) pero we have better preparations ngayon. Very cooperative mga tao sa preemptive evacuation. On their own pumunta sa evacuation centers to save their lives. Ayaw nilang ma-experience 'yung na-experience nila nung Lawin," Mamba said.

Ompong (international name Mangkhut) made landfall over Baggao in Cagayan, early Saturday morning.

Mamba said Ompong was "more destructive" than Lawin because of its sustained strength.

"Pagpasok ni Lawin, malakas na malakas pero mabilis humina. Eto po (Ompong), sustained 'yung lakas niya for 16 hours," he said.

Citing initial reports from disaster officials, Mamba said Ompong destroyed 450,000 hectares of croplands, leaving P2 billion damage in crops and affecting 124,000 farmers.

The province's main thoroughfares, however, have already been cleared, he added.

"Pangalawang super typhoon ito in a matter two years. Di pa kami nakaka-recover sa super typhoon Lawin, tinamaan na naman po kami," Mamba lamented.

Though strong, Ompong was never officially classified as a super typhoon by PAGASA.  —KBK, GMA News