Jolina aftermath: No power in many Samar, Eastern Samar areas

TACLOBAN CITY—Many areas in Samar and Eastern Samar provinces remain without power on Monday night, two days after Severe Tropical Storm ‘Jolina’ pummeled Eastern Visayas.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said they were ready to energize these areas, and it’s now up to the concerned power cooperatives to provide power supply to the households.

In Samar province, 14 of its 24 towns and two cities, including the provincial capital of Catbalogan City, have yet to have full power.

These areas are within the coverage of the Samar Electric Cooperative (Samelco II), which has 94,168 household connections.

So far, only 73,923 households have their power supply back.

In Catbalogan City, only 40 villages out of its 57 barangays have power.

Mercy Caboboy, Samelco II director, said power restoration was ongoing. Power, she said, would be restored within the week.

In Eastern Samar, only nine of its 22 towns and Borongan City have their power restored.

These include Sulat, Taft, Can-avid, Dolores, San Policarpo, Maslog, Oras, Arteche, and Jipapad towns. The rest of the towns and Borongan City have partial power restoration.

Maydolong, Balangkayan, and Llorente towns, which have 10,399 member-consumers, remain without power.

Power in these areas was cut off after strong winds with heavy rains spawned by Jolina hit the transmission lines and power poles.

Michael Ligalig, communication and public affairs officer of the NGCP, said the severe tropical storm toppled at least four power poles.

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