Six days of heavy rain and flooding caused P149,387,129 in damage to crops, fisheries and livestock in Negros Occidental, Irene Bel Ploteña, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, said on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Thirty-five houses were also destroyed and 466 were damaged.
The foul weather was brought on by the southwest monsoon that was enhanced by tropical storms Ferdie and Helen and tropical depression Gener.
The weather has improved with the three disturbances having exited the country allowing thousands of evacuees to start going home on Thursday, Ploteña said.
The number of evacuees in Negros Occidental evacuation centers on Thursday afternoon were 2,973 families with 12,531 members.
This was a drop by 24,107 from the 36,638 evacuees on Wednesday.
The foul weather that lasted for close to a week affected 201,165 residents in 25 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, and caused the death of two from drowning, Ploteña said.
Damage to crops was P146,184,459, fisheries – P1,781,361, and livestock – P1,421,309, she added.*