LAOAG CITY — Ilocos Norte was placed under a state of calamity due to severe flooding brought about by monsoon rains and the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ineng on Saturday 24 August.

In a special session held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall on Saturday afternoon, members of the Ilocos Norte board unanimously approved a resolution declaring the province under state of calamity.

As of Sunday, the initial estimated damage to local infrastructure and agriculture have reached nearly P292 million.

The damaged infrastructure worth P271 million include flood and river control dikes, roads, bridges, irrigation facilities, and schools. The estimated damage to agriculture was placed at P20.6 million.

Meanwhile, Pauleen Joy Corpus, a 17-year-old resident of Sta. Catalina, Pasuquin, was killed in a landslide while two others identified as Princess Shalane Trumpo, 11, and John Llyod Trumpo, 9, were injured at the height of the storm, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Resiliency Council (PDRRMRC).

Another fatality identified as Ricky Manglallan, 37, drowned while rescuing the flood victims in Laoag City which was also placed under a state of calamity by the city council.

Massive floods on Saturday affected 4,595 families or more than 18,000 individuals in 110 barangays in Ilocos Norte.

“For 47 years of staying here at Castro Avenue, it’s only now that our house was flooded,” said Laoag resident Bella Navarro on her Facebook post with photos showing knee-deep water inside their kitchen.

Provincial roads along Batac-Rayuray, Vintar-Tamdagan and Vintar-Pallas were declared passable.

Cynthia Iglesias, head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said a 50-millimeter per hour volume of water recorded on Saturday was beyond normal.

“If our rivers and waterways are okay, we could have lessened the impact of flooding,” she said.

Iglesias said beyond normal rainfall is expected for the month of August and September, reminding the public to take precautionary measures.