Death toll from Typhoon Ursula hits 50

The number of people killed by a powerful storm that pummeled the Visayas over Christmas has risen to 50, authorities said on Tuesday, making it the country’s deadliest storm of 2019.

The destructive winds and heavy rains of Typhoon “Ursula” (international name: Phanfone) brought down flimsy homes and destroyed commercial buildings mainly in the Visayas, affecting more than two million people.

At least 80,000 still remain in emergency shelters and might have to stay until the New Year, given the scale of destruction.

“We’re sad that some of our countrymen are still in evacuation centers, but we assure them they will continue to receive support until they get back on their feet,” national disaster agency spokesperson Mark Timbal told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Five people are still missing after the storm, which also left 143 injured.

The death toll up from 41 on Sunday included three sailors who died after their vessel capsized, a policeman electrocuted by a toppled post and a man struck by a falling tree.

Ursula was the 21st cyclone this year to hit the country.

Massive flooding and strong winds ravaged crops and fishponds in Capiz and Aklan provinces and towns in Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Antique, with losses reaching at least hundreds of millions of pesos.

The number of fatalities due to the typhoon, considered the worst to hit Western Visayas after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in 2013, rose to 26, including 16 in Iloilo and five each in Capiz and Aklan. Six persons remained missing as of Monday.

In Eastern Visayas, at least 13 persons died, the Office of Civil Defense reported.

Of the 13 fatalities, five each came from Leyte and Eastern Samar, with one each from the provinces of Biliran, Southern Leyte and Samar.

The deaths were caused either by drowning, electrocution, or by falling debris.

Heavy losses were reported in rice, corn farms, fruit trees and fishponds in areas which were also devastated when Yolanda struck six years ago.

The total value of crops damaged or lost as of Dec. 29 in the provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, Antique and Negros Occidental was placed at P163.5 million, according to an initial report of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas.

At least 33,546.48 hectares of crops were affected.

The Aklan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council reported damage to agriculture reaching P128,562,487.

Iloilo and Capiz provinces are among the top producers of rice while Capiz is considered the “seafood capital” of the country.

Governors Florencio Miraflores of Aklan and Esteban Evan Contreras of Capiz said their provinces needed help from the national government due to the extent and magnitude of damage and losses.

Dar said they would help farmers and fisherfolks recover by providing seeds and fingerlings. —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTOR P. BURGOSJR., JOEYGABIETA AND AFP