Ekip
28 December 2016•Update: 03 January 2017
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA, the Philippines
A typhoon that barrelled across the Philippines for more than two days killed at least six people, left 19 others missing, tens of thousands homeless, and destroyed at least 25.14 million pesos ($505,241) worth of crops in three regions.
Typhoon Nina finally exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility late Tuesday, with 42,531 families still in evacuation centers, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Mina Marasigan.
It caused many to abandon Christmas celebrations and flee to evacuation shelters as it made landfall.
Marasigan said the Department of Interior and Local Government is still verifying the number of dead, while 79 people were injured
An initial report released by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) on Wednesday said that the south-eastern provinces of Luzon facing the Pacific Ocean bore the brunt of the typhoon.
Nina affected at least 3,818 farmers, while 3,540 hectares of land in the regions were "severely affected".
"As these amounts are just partial assessment damages, we expect them to increase as we continue to receive reports from our field offices," NIA Administrator Peter Tiu Lavina said.
Non-governmental organization Oxfam has reported at least 5.3 billion pesos ($106.5 million) in damage to agriculture.
NIA also reported at least 49 million pesos worth of infrastructure damage.
The typhoon (also known as Nock-ten) slammed into the central Philippines late Sunday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain and cutting off power.
At its height, a boat carrying 18 people sank off the Philippines coast, most of whom still remaining missing.
