80,000 ‘Nona’ victims still in centers

ALMOST 80,000 people displaced by Typhoon “Nona” remain in evacuation centers in Luzon and the Visayas while all families forced to evacuate by Tropical Depression “Onyok” have returned home in Mindanao, social welfare officials said Monday.

But the damage sustained from Nona surged to almost P5 billion on Monday, with almost half of it infrastructure.

The death toll rose to 41, with 24 injured and five missing almost a week after Nona struck, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

A total of 17,808 families, or 79,929 persons, who were displaced by Nona were still in 288 evacuation centers in Regions III, IV-A, IV-B, V and VIII, as of Dec. 21, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said.

Meanwhile, power has not yet been fully restored in four cities and 16 towns since last week. Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas were still suffering communication problems because of the typhoon’s wrath.

Parts of Luzon were flooded due to heavy rains from the northeast monsoon, affecting a total of 425 areas in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Mimaropa and Metro Manila. The flooding has subsided in only 150 of these areas.

Officials of the Philippine Red Cross oversaw relief efforts conducted over the weekend in Northern Samar, one of the 14 provinces ravaged by Nona.

President Aquino plans to visit typhoon-stricken areas this week. DJ Yap, Julie M. Aurelio, Jovic Yee and Nikko Dizon