RESCUE OPS Philippine Coast Guard rescuers assist in the retrieval of the bodies of two residents after a landslide in Sitio Libas, Barangay Maguiton, Guinobatan, Albay on Oct. 23, 2024. The Office of Civil Defense on Tuesday (Oct. 29) said government responders have so far rescued 169,769 individuals affected by Several Tropical Storm Kristine. (Photo courtesy of PCG)

MANILA, Philippines — Teams from the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police, and Philippine Coast Guard have so far rescued 169,769 individuals in areas affected by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami), the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Tuesday.

OCD deputy administrator for operations, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, also reported that 539,944 food packs have been distributed in storm-hit areas as of 3 p.m.

During President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s visit to Barangay Causip in Bula, Camarines Sur, on Oct. 26, he directed all national government agencies to assist those displaced by the storm and ordered the immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation of damaged roads and bridges.

Initial estimates placed the damage cost for roads and bridges at approximately P1.3 billion, while damage to the agricultural sector was estimated at P10 million.

Alejandro said power has been restored to 228 out of 352 cities and municipalities that experienced outages due to the strong winds and heavy rains.

Rainfall in the Bicol Region during the peak of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine was twice that of Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009.

Alejandro said 86 out of 99 road sections previously rendered impassable by Kristine are now accessible, and 4,866 bags of rice from the National Food Authority have been distributed.

Laymanize data

Meanwhile, OCD administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, called on local disaster officials to localize and laymanize the data given to them by national government agencies for a more effective information dissemination of typhoon updates.

“I see a gap [in] local dissemination,” he said in a pre-disaster assessment Tuesday afternoon.

“Let’s take on the challenge. Let’s tap the capability of regional officials to translate important data to the local dialects in order to make them more practical, understandable, and meaningful to the communities and to the decision-makers such as the local government units (LGUs),” Nepomuceno said.

He also sought the immediate cascading of advisories to the LGUs as well as to media outlets.

Nepomuceno likewise requested the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to immediately and continuously inform the OCD on red flag advisories. (PNA)