ILOILO City – Thirteen persons died in Iloilo and Capiz provinces when typhoon “Ursula” struck northern Panay Island on Christmas Day. Six others remain missing as of this writing.
Nine of the casualties were in Iloilo and four in Capiz, according to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) yesterday.
On the other hand, the missing persons were in Pontevedra, Capiz (two), Passi City, Iloilo (one) and Batad, Iloilo (three).
Extensive damage prompted the provincial governments of Capiz and Aklan to declare a state of calamity yesterday.
The local government units of Carles and Balasan in Iloilo and the municipality of Pandan in Antique also declared a state of calamity.
RDRRMC recorded 5,717 displaced families (21,956 individuals). They were from the following provinces:
* Aklan – 259 families (1,272 individuals)
* Antique – 498 families (2,213 individuals)
* Capiz – 1,214 families (3,956 individuals)
* Iloilo – 3,643 families (14,515 individuals)
Of the 5,717 displaced families, 2,347 (8,722 individuals) moved to evacuation centers, according to the RDRRMC, while 107 families sought shelter with relatives and friends.
Meanwhile, landslides were reported in Maayon, Capiz – in Barangay Aglimocon (portion of the road going to Sara, Iloilo was not passable) and in Sitio Tampayak, Barangay West Villaflores (portion of the road was covered with rocks and spoil but still passable to all vehicles).
As of 9 a.m. yesterday all sea vessels resumed their operation.
On the other hand, flights to and from the airport in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan (the jump-off point to Boracay Island) and those to and from the airport in Kalibo, Aklan were cancelled. The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported that portions of the roofs of the airports were damaged.
The Department of Public Works and Highways, for its part, reported as of 8 a.m. yesterday that all national roads and bridges in Iloilo and Negros Occidental, Bacolod City and Iloilo City were passable except for the Balasan-Carles road in Iloilo due to debris and flooding.
As to the power situation, the municipality of Lemery, Iloilo had a blackout as of 12 noon yesterday. In Capiz it was a total blackout.
With regards to communication, some local government units reported degraded services by mobile phone operators in Aklan, Capiz and northern Iloilo.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 remains on blue alert status and all its employees are on standby for field deployment.
DSWD-6 is the vice chair for the Response Cluster of the RDRRMC.
“We have sufficient family food packs,” said Assistant Regional Director for Administration Evangeline Felecio./PN
