At least 155 cities and municipalities across the country are still waiting for the restoration of electricity following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Uwan (international name: Fung-wong), according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Monday.
Uwan whipped many parts of Luzon over the weekend, leaving at least two individuals dead, the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) situational report said.
‘On the status of life lines, 155 cities and municipalities are still experiencing power interruptions while 15 have resumed; 13 areas with water supply interruption, with 2 restored; and 14 areas have reported communication interruption,’ OCD Assistant Secretary Rafael Alejandro IV said in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
‘In terms of mobility, 71 roads are still not passable, with 16 passable; and 26 bridges have reported limited access, while three are not passable,’ he added.
The OCD assistant secretary did not immediately specify the locations of the utility interruptions, non-passable roads, and bridges.
However, Alejandro further noted that 13 areas were affected by storm surges during Uwan’s onslaught, and 132 areas remained flooded as of Monday morning.
At least 1,085 houses have been reported damaged so far, with 89 being totally damaged and 996 partially damaged, according to the OCD assistant secretary.
He added that they monitored around 6,200 passengers; 2,900 rolling cargoes; 80 vessels; and 34 motor bancas stranded as the typhoon crossed the country’s landmass.
Preemptive evacuation
Alejandro also said around 1.4 million individuals were preemptively evacuated from the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas ahead of Uwan’s landfall.
Uwan made landfall as a super typhoon over Dinalungan, Aurora, on Sunday night.
Two people were reported dead as the tropical cyclone crossed the country’s landmass, according to the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) situational report.
Further, at the press briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) community affairs chief Col. Esmeraldo Osia Jr. confirmed that a landslide occurred in Nueva Vizcaya but said they were still validating whether two five-year-olds died during the incident.
Nonetheless, OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo, quoting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said the preemptive evacuation ‘minimized casualties despite the strength of the storm.’
Alejandro said they briefed the president on the situation again on Monday morning.
Uwan weakened to a typhoon early on Monday shortly after making landfall in Aurora and was last spotted 135 kilometers (km) west-northwest of Bacnotan, La Union, at 10 a.m., the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its latest update.
The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 130 km per hour (km/h) and gusts of up to 160 km/h while moving west-northwest at 20 km/h.