The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) set grim expectations Sunday as the number of casualties attributed to the effects of severe tropical storm ‘Kristine’ kept rising with 41 individuals still missing.
OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno reported 85 deaths as of this posting. The official causes of death, however, are still subject for validation.
“The death toll is increasing fast because the reports are now coming. From 81, there are now 85 reported dead,” Nepomuceno said. “There are 70 individuals injured and this number may still increase too.”
An earlier report by Agence France Presse (AFP) quoting data from local authorities placed the number of dead at 97.
Nepomuceno said many of the casualties were victims of landslides and some drowned in the floods.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), there were 158 areas that have so far declared a state of calamity in the aftermath of Kristine.
Among the areas under state of calamity is Batangas, where 54 people died, 18 were injured, and 21 were missing, according to police.
Based on the latest situational report of NDRRMC, Bicol Region had the most cities and municipalities placed under state of calamity at 78.
This included the entire provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Catanduanes, as well as Bulan, Sorsogon.
Calabarzon came next with 63 cities and municipalities under state of calamity, including the entire provinces of Cavite and Batangas; Tagkawayan, Mulanay and General Luna in Quezon Province; Santa Cruz, San Pedro City and Victoria in Laguna.
In Eastern Visayas, 13 areas declared state of calamity, including Calbayog, Samar and the municipalities of Jipapad, Arteche, San Policarpo, Oras, Maslog, Dolores, Can-avid, Taft, Sulat, San Julian, Borongan and Maydolong in Eastern Samar.
Ilocos Region, Soccsksargen, Cordillera Administrative Region and Metro Manila have one area each under state of calamity: Dagupan City, Pangasinan; Magpet, Cotabato; Alfonso Lista, Ifugao; Quezon City.
Meanwhile, NDRRMC said ‘Kristine’s’ damage to agriculture was at P1.4 billion, while the damage to infrastructure reached P825 million. There were also 25,591 houses partially damaged and 2,049 totally damaged. Forty (40) bridges and 218 roads also sustained damage due to the typhoon.
Kristine also affected a total of 5,784,298 people or 1,415,438 families in 8,895 barangays nationwide. Of these figures, 382,154 were still staying in evacuation centers, while 178,742 were seeking temporary shelter elsewhere.
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