400 dead, P4B in property, crops destroyed by ‘Pablo’ –NDRRMC

MANILA, Philippines — The number of deaths in the wake of typhoon “Pablo” (international codename: Bopha) has risen to over 400 with damage to property and crops estimated at P4 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Friday.

As of 6 a.m., there were 418 dead, with only 73 identified.

Most of the fatalities were from the hardest-hit areas of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, as caused by floods and mudslides.

Damages to properties and agriculture have gone to over P4 billion, the NDRRMC said.

Injured persons were at 445, while 383 remained missing.

There were over 5 million affected persons in Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao region and Caraga, with over 300,000 still in evacuation centers.

Pablo also destroyed at least 10,000 homes, the NDRRMC report said.

Four provinces and 26 municipalities were declared under a state of calamity in Mimaropa, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao region and Caraga.

Pablo, weakened into a tropical storm, is slowly heading out of the country and was last seen 530 kilometers west of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro at 4.am. It packed maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 140 kph.