Death toll from Yolanda now close to 4,000

MANILA (Updated) -- The number of people who died in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has risen to 3,976, while more than 1,500 remained missing Sunday, the state disaster agency reported.

Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which hit land November 8, also destroyed P10.3 billion worth of property a week after it barreled through provinces in the Visayas and parts of Mindoro and Palawan with winds of up to 260 kilometers per hour.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in its 6 p.m. Sunday report that damage to infrastructure reached P1,250,108,600 while agriculture losses were pegged at P9,089,181,461.

The NDRRMC earlier announced that it had sent additional 1,000 cadaver bags to affected areas following a request from relief workers, with 1,590 still missing.

Typhoon Yolanda affected 2.18 million families or 10.1 million people in 44 provinces. Nearly 350,000 individuals are still in evacuation centers. Damage houses stood at 543,127.

Government aid, particularly from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), reached P119.2 million. A total 22,730 personnel, 110 aircraft, 1,285 vehicles and 77 seacraft from national and local agencies, responders and volunteer groups have been utilized for the relief efforts.

Twenty-three foreign medical teams have also been deployed to various towns in Western, Central and Eastern Visayas.

TACLOBAN. The death toll from Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which struck central Philippines on November 8, 2013, rose to 3,976 on Sunday. (Photo by Gerwin Babon/Sunnex)

“China pays high attention to the disaster caused by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines and has stated many times that it will consider continuing to provide humanitarian assistance for the disaster-stricken areas in accordance with the development of the situation and the needs of the Philippines,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said.

The Chinese government earlier promised to give $100,000 each to the Philippine government and the Red Cross. It also pledged $1.6 million worth of tents and blankets and other supplies. The Philippines and China are fighting for ownership over some islands in the West Philippine Sea.

For her part, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said her agency started its Food-for-Work program in hardest-hit Tacloban.

“We’ve also started the food-for-work in conjunction with the City of Tacloban, and that means we will be able to clean up a significant portion of the astrodome, which is the biggest evacuation center so far,” she said.

Tacloban, Ormoc and Guiuan were also designated as hubs for distribution of relief goods to Leyte and Eastern Samar.

Soliman said the government has distributed a total of 430,435 food and rice packs, as well as water and high-energy biscuits, to the areas affected by the typhoon.

Twenty-four out of 138 barangays in Tacloban were expected to be served on Sunday while the government provided relief to Leyte’s 40 municipalities. Tents and tarpaulins were sent to evacuation centers.

President Benigno Aquino III received updates from local officials and government agencies regarding the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Tacloban and Guiuan in Eastern Samar on Sunday, but he still flew to Tacloban City to personally see the relief operations.

He said Sunday that he will stay in typhoon-battered Leyte province until he sees more progress in the aid effort following complaints from survivors that they have yet to receive proper help.

Aquino is expected to set up camp in Tacloban, the capital of hardest hit Leyte province, but it is not clear where he will find suitable accommodations amid the ruins. (Sunnex)

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