JAGNA – The night of August 30 in the midst of a heavy downpour, an age old bridge in the town of Jagna collapsed. The Quezon Bridge II , a Bailey type of municipal bridge that connects barangays Pagina and Looc located near the port side of the public market collapsed when bamboo stumps, rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage and scattered remains of destroyed stuffs from high up in the mountain were carried down river by surging water which were trapped by the bridge posts causing a blockade. There was no more outlet for the surging water causing it to rise up and overflow the nearby community and the arch road around the public market. Mud and water combined entered houses along the river bank. Water reached thigh high. Stocks on low lying stores were reached up by the water and were damaged. Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer Vicente Orias and the Fire Officer II Rico Tadena surveyed the site in the morning.

Municipal Engineer Josefina Ranoa gathered personnel to clean up the area while Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator and Waterworks System Supervisor Engr. Gerry Araneta, brought his men to the area to repair the damaged water pipes and restore water supply to the affected area. According to Engr. Gerry Araneta, MPDC, damage caused by the downpour on August 30 amounted to P600,000.00 and damaged appliances were estimated to reach up to P100,000.00. Another downpour that started at 10 PM on September 1 until 12:30 midnight, submerged the barangays of Can-upao and Tejero’s sitio Pondol and the nearby community fronting the Jagna Central Elem. School. As of this writing, there were already 60 households in barangay Can-upao’s sitio Lutao and Kalipay reported to be affected with flooding reaching neck deep. In barangay Tejero, water flowed inside some houses and stores causing damage to appliances and items for sale. The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council is in the process of preparing assistance to the affected families.