CLOSE to 80,000 Filipinos spent Christmas Day at the evacuation centers and seaports due to the onslaught of Typhoon Nina (international name Nock-Ten), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Monday.
In its report, the disaster council said as of 8 a.m. a total of 77,560 families or 383,097 people were evacuated to around 300 evacuation centers particularly in the provinces of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas even before the typhoon made landfall.
A total of 17,277 families or 72,869 people were evacuated at the height of the Nina which already made seven landfall since Saturday, December 24.
Earlier, the NDRRMC said several provinces which is expected to be badly hit by the typhoon conducted a pre-emptive evacuation to assure the safety of their population.
At the seaports, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said there were 12,019 stranded passengers who failed to catch the last few boat/vessel rides for the last two days due to bad weather.
However, it said as of 8 a.m. the number of stranded passengers went down to 10, 968 while a total of 1,047 rolling cargoes, 37 vessels and six motor bancas were still not allowed to venture.
PCG spokesperson Armand Balilo said the ports in Allen, Northern Samar and Matnog in Sorsogon have already resumed operations as the weather gets better.
Meanwhile, NDRRMC spokesperson Romina Marasigan said beginning Sunday, 83 areas in the provinces of Mimaropa, Calabarzon and Bicol regions have experienced power outages and interruptions.
“Mayroon tayong naitalang ilang areas nagkaroon ng problema sa supply ng kuryente. Itong sa Calabarzon, Mimaropa, at Bicol Region ay pinatay muna ang supply ng kuryente ng ating National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) bilang pre-cautionary measure dahil inaasahan na may malakas na hangin na dala ang bagyo at hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay hindi pa nireresume ang pagbibigay ng supply ng kuryente,” she said.
Marasigan also raised the communication glitches in the said areas which makes it hard for the affected population to contact their loved ones.
“Sa mga may kamag-anak sa Bicol Region at may problema ang linya ng komunikasyon, hindi isolated ang ilan sa mga lugar. May ilang areas lang sa probinsiya ng Catanduanes na Globe lines lang ang gumagana,” she said.
However, Marasigan said they are yet to receive reports about the casualties of Typhoon Nina.
She said the NDRRMC is still collating reports from regional offices which are presently conducting assessment in the typhoon-hit areas.
“Ang gagawin ng Office of Civil Defense-Bicol Region ay magkakaroon ngayon ng Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis at ‘yung mga teams natin ay currently na-deploy na para magkaroon ng initial assessment kung ano ang naging epekto ng bagyong Nina,” she said.
“So far hindi pa masabi na pinakanasalanta dahil hindi pa tapos ang pananalasa ng bagyong Nina sa ating bansa pero sa initial reports namin, nakita na ang Catanduanes at Camarines Sur kung saan unang-una nakaranas ng bagyo,” Marasigan added.
She said the government is now prioritizing the provision of help to the affected population including the distribution of relief goods which is being spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the re-construction of their houses.
The DSWD said a total of P7.1 million were provided with the help of the local government units to the affected families in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon. (Sunnex)