‘Ursula’ is 2019’s deadliest typhoon
Credit to Author: Dempsey Reyes| Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2019 16:18:02 +0000
The last typhoon of the year is also the deadliest.
The number of deaths from Typhoon “Ursula” (international name: “Phanfone”) climbed to 41 on Sunday, more than double the 17 fatalities from Typhoon “Tisoy” (“Kammuri”), which struck earlier this month.
Ursula blew out of the country on Thursday after lashing the Visayas with 150-kilometer-per-hour winds and torrential rain.
It also left over P1 billion in damage to infrastructure and agriculture, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Sunday.
The typhoon disrupted inter-island shipping in Southern Luzon and the Visayas, stranding thousands of travelers during the Christmas holiday.
The NDRRMC said 28 were injured and 12 were missing in Ursula’s wake.
Five of the fatalities were in Oriental Mindoro, two in Occidental Mindoro, three in Capiz, four in Aklan, 13 in Iloilo, one in Cebu, one in Southern Leyte, five in Leyte, one in Biliran, five in Eastern Samar and one in Samar.
Five of the injured were in Region 4-B (Mindoro, Masbate, Romblon and Palawan or Mimaropa), 13 in Western Visayas and 10 in Eastern Visayas.
The typhoon drove 399,242 families or 1,633,611 persons from their homes in 2,044 villages in Mimaropa, Bicol, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas and Caraga.
The NDRRMC said 265,643 houses were partially or severely damaged in Mimaropa and the Visayas regions.
At least 29 health facilities suffered damage as well as 90 public structures.
There was also heavy damage to infrastructure and agriculture in Mimaropa, Bicol and the Visayas.
A state of calamity was declared in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro; Kalibo, Aklan; Libertad, Antique; Sigma, Capiz; Carles and Concepcion towns in Iloilo; Madridejos, Cebu; the whole province of Eastern Samar; and the entire province of Leyte.
Electricity was still being restored in some areas after Ursula knocked down power lines.
Tisoy was less destructive, but it forced the suspension of some of the events in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.