‘Sendong’ damage reaches P1B–NDRRMC

A stray dog approaches a carcass of water buffalo Tuesday amidst debris of mostly logs which were washed ashore by the onslaught of Tropical storm Sendong last Friday in Iligan City. AP/Bullit Marquez

MANILA, Philippines—The damage wrought by Tropical Storm “Sendong” (international codename Washi) has reached P1 billion as the death toll rose to 1,080, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in its update Friday.

Damage to infrastructure was placed at P1,031,195,100 while the amount of destroyed crops reached P1,936,415.

Among the greatly damaged infrastructure were schools in Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro City and Agusan del Sur. In the Iligan City, 12 schools and 136 classrooms were damaged, the NDRRMC said.

The number of houses totally destroyed was 9,433 while 18,616 houses were partially damaged.

A total of 1,079 people remained missing while 1,979 were injured, it said, adding a total of 442 survivors have been rescued.

The number of evacuees in 45 evacuation centers was 48,980 or 13,090 families, while 266,266 persons or 48,980 families were outside of evacuation centers, NDRRMC said.

The flash floods caused by the storm wiped away entire villages located near the river, prompting United Nations officials to describe it as “like a tsunami.”

Originally posted: 3:52 pm | Friday, December 23rd, 2011