Typhoon Paolo battered the Cagayan Valley region on Friday, toppling trees and signages, triggering power outages, and leaving widespread damage in its wake after making landfall in Dinapigue, Isabela.
Along major roads in Isabela and Cagayan, fallen Gmelina trees and signs littered the highways. Thousands of sacks of palay and corn left out to dry along road shoulders were drenched by downpours, adding to the woes of already struggling farmers.
In Echague town, at least 500 families were preemptively evacuated to higher ground due to swelling rivers. A similar number of families, mostly from northern Cagayan, were also moved to safety.
As rains and winds pummeled the region, brownouts hit parts of Isabela and Ifugao after the Santiago-Alicia 69kv line tripped at 10:26 a.m., affecting the Isabela Electric Cooperative I and the Ifugao Electric Cooperative, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported.
The NGCP said line patrols are ongoing, but did not specify when power would be restored. It appealed to consumers for patience and understanding.
The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has raised an orange rainfall alert over Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, and Nueva Vizcaya as Paolo continues to dump heavy rain across northern Luzon