Kennon, other Cordillera roads still closed due to slides
BAGUIO CITY—Howling winds and heavy rains brought by Supertyphoon “Carina” (international name: Gaemi) and the enhanced southwest monsoon triggered erosions and mudslides across the Cordillera this week, blocking or slowing down traffic at Kennon Road here and major roads in the provinces of Benguet, Abra and Mountain Province.
The 34-kilometer Kennon Road, the shortest access road to Baguio City, remained impassable on Thursday due to landslides at Camp 6 and Camp 3, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Rehabilitation work there was immediately suspended when the weather bureau tracked Carina’s movement at the start of the week.
Halsema Highway, the former mountain trail linking Baguio to Bontoc town in Mountain Province and a major route for vegetable delivery trucks, has been cleared of mud and rocks that blocked its sections in Atok and Kabayan towns in Benguet as of Thursday noon. But landslides were reported along Sabangan, Mountain Province, as of 2 p.m.
A rockslide continued to obstruct traffic on Andres Acop Cosalan Road in Buguias town, also in Benguet, while debris blocked access to the Kibungan town section of the Gov. Bado Dangwa National Road.
Mudslides prevent motorists from driving through the Itogon-Dalupirip-San Manuel Road in the border of Benguet and Pangasinan as well as the Santo Tomas Road near the Baguio’s boundary with Tuba, Benguet.
The Kiangan-Tinoc Road in Ifugao province could not be accessed because of a series of mudslides blocking a portion of the road in Buguias, Benguet.
Clearing
But government personnel have cleared a lane along the Banaue-Hungduan-Benguet boundary road in Tinoc, Ifugao, and another lane along the Mayoyao, Ifugao, section of the Banaue-Mayoyao-Alfonso Lista-Isabela boundary road.
By Thursday morning, DPWH and local volunteers had punched through boulders and thick mud that blocked the Mountain Province-Nueva Vizcaya Road, the Mountain Province-Cagayan-Enrile Road and the Mountain Province-Ilocos Sur Road.
Workers then tore an opening through rocks blocking the Kalinga-Abra road in Kalinga’s Pasil town later that day.In Baguio, pockets of erosion hit a residential area in Barangay Asin Road, the compound of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center and inside Camp Henry T. Allen.
Power outages affected Baguio and Benguet partly due to landslides that toppled electric posts in the towns of Kapangan and Kibungan, leaving P2.4 million in damage, according to the Benguet Electric Cooperative on Thursday.
It said electricity services have been restored to 97.5 percent of its customers in Baguio and 13 Benguet towns.
Carina affected 1,488 families in the region but only 33 households were displaced, and had taken shelter with other families or local evacuation centers, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
In a report on Thursday, the DSWD said no houses were destroyed by Carina, although it left 12 houses damaged.
The state weather bureau said Ambuklao and Binga dams in Benguet opened some of their floodgates to ease pressure on the reservoirs.
Slope protection
In Zambales, the typhoon and the southwest monsoon damaged roads and a slope protection meant to protect coastal communities from flooding.
According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), the slope protection in Barangay San Miguel in San Antonio town and Barangay Linasin in nearby San Marcelino town were damaged.
The PDRRMC said a portion of the coastal road at Sitio Tektek in Barangay Sindol in San Felipe town, and the road leading to a coastal area in Barangay Lomboy in Cabangan town were also damaged.
Swollen rivers and floods also damaged the Sta. Fe dike and bridge approach in Sitio I-long, San Marcelino, and the hanging bridge in Barangay Babuyan, Sta. Cruz town. —WITH A REPORT FROM JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT
