MANILA, Philippines – Baggao town in Cagayan province suffered the most damage from Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut), Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Saturday, September 15.

“Apparently, Baggao received the biggest damage…because they were directly in the path of the storm, ” Lorenzana said in Filipino during a press briefing at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (NDRRMC) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.

Baggao is a first class coastal municipality in Cagayan with an estimated population of 83,000 as of 2015. The eye of Typhoon Ompong hit the town at 1:40 am on Saturday.

What damage? Citing reports from the military at around 3 pm on Saturday, Lorenzana said the storm ruined 3 power towers, and an estimated 1,000 houses “along the road” and at the Baggao old town area.

The defense secretary said a lot of grain and root crops were lost from the floods and wind.

Some 8 barangays (villages) remain to be isolated and unreachable by communication, Lorenzana added. 

Ompong left the Philippine Area of Responsibility at 9 pm on Saturday. It continues to enhance the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat, which is expected to trigger gusty winds and light to heavy rain in Western Visayas and Mimaropa. – Rappler.com