SOME residents in provinces in Mindanao devastated by Typhoon Odette have fallen ill to diarrhea and two have already died of the disease, the government said on Sunday as it continued to assist the millions of people affected by the typhoon, including in the Visayas.
“We received [reports of] two deaths in Surigao del Norte, but these are subjects for validation,” said Eisha Mariano of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). She said they are in the process of coordinating with their office in the region while the Department of Health (DOH) is undertaking assessments.
Mariano said that they also received reports about reported cases of acute gastroenteritis in Cagdianao, San Jose and Tubajon in Dinagat Islands and Del Carmen in Surigao del Norte.
“As per DOH region, there are also already admissions in hospitals and teams have been deployed in areas for assistance. The delivery of logistics to Surigao City and Dinagat Island is continuing,” she said.
As of Sunday, the NDRRMC reported that the death toll from the typhoon was already 387, of whom 59 have been confirmed and validated. Another 742 people were also injured while 50 are still missing.
Odette affected at least 1,012,997 families or 3, 952,880 people in 5,908 barangays in Regions 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, and in Caraga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The NDRRMC said at least P3.9 billion worth of agriculture products were also lost along with P16.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects. At least 478,953 houses were damaged or destroyed.
Meanwhile, power supply has been restored in 150 cities and municipalities out of the 281 cities and towns that lost power due to Odette while 281 cities and municipalities are still experiencing communication outage.
Energizing communities
IN Bohol, Col. Gerry Besana of the Armed Forces Visayas Command said the government has targeted to energize about 20 to 30 percent of the province until the end of the year following a meeting between officials led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and Governor Arthur Yap.
“It will take a month to restore the power supply coming from the grid. Hopefully, that will be by the end of January. Plus, they have to repair the distribution lines,” said Besana, who was present during the meeting.
“The challenges, sustained supply of diesel, transport of repair materials coming from Luzon and availability of repair crews from other electric cooperatives,” he added.
Besana said the phone signal in Bohol is already strong while air travel via the airport in Panglao is already regular although the military still has no direct contact to the northeastern part of the province, which still has no power.