700K Nina-hit households still have no power –DOE

More than 700,000 households are still without power a week after the onslaught of Typhoon Nina in Bicol and Southern Luzon regions, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Wednesday.

"There are 761,494 households to be reconnected with power," DOE spokesperson Felix Fuentebella told reporters in a press conference.

Citing latest report from the National Electrification Administration (NEA), Fuentebella said that as of 10 a.m., power has been restored to 56.86 percent or 1,003,519 households out of 1,765,013 affected.

"These figures can be tricky because there are more households in the commercial areas but when you go to the far-off barangays that's more challenging [to restore], he said.

The DOE official noted that power restoration in commercial areas and vital institutions such as hospitals were prioritized because relief and rehabilitation efforts were coordinated there.

Fuentebella said that the DOE is targeting to restore power to the remaining households before February.

"Binibilang kasi natin 'yung number of poles and ilan 'yung kayang itayo ng isang crew sa isang araw. So we now have to compute kung ilang ang personnel na made-deploy versus kung ilang kilometro of poles so we can determine a more accurate target," he noted.

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza noted in the same press conference that Nina damaged 707 transmission structures, including 35 towers and 672 poles.

Fuentebella said that the NEA through the Task Force Kapatiran has deployed 982 personnel working 24 hours a day, seven days a week in shifts to restore electricity.

Likewise, the NGCP has deployed more than 600 personnel working 24/7 to attain 100 percent restoration of transmission lines by Wednesday. — John Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News