28 dead, 12 missing due to Ursula —NDRRMC

A total of 28 people were killed due to Typhoon Ursula while two were injured and 12 were missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) on Friday.

The fatalities were from Regions VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), and VIII (Eastern Visayas). Iloilo province had the most number of fatalities at 13.

Meanwhile, due to the improved weather since Thursday, the number of stranded passengers went down from 97 to 34 as of Friday morning.

An earlier NDRRMC report said 12,131 families or 43,850 people were still housed at 216 evacuation centers.

A total of 147 cities/municipalities experienced power outage in Regions VI, VII, VIII and MIMAROPA. Of the number, electricity supply has already been restored in 31 cities/municipalities.

The provinces of Leyte and Eastern Samar, as well as parts of Aklan and Occidental Mindoro, have been placed under a state of calamity by their local governments due to the effects of Typhoon Ursula, which lashed areas in the Visayas and Luzon on Christmas Day.

The damage brought by Ursula to the agriculture sector has reached more than P500 million, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The DA-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Operations Center said total damage reached P571.58 million, including affected 43,442 farmers and fisherfolk and 4,644 hectares of rice, corn and cassava.

Fisheries, meanwhile, accounted for the lion's share of damage at P569 million or 99.5% of the total.

As of 3 a.m. on Friday, the eye of Typhoon Ursula (International name: Phanfone) was located based on all available data at 335 kilometers west of Subic, Zambales with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 150 km/h. It was moving in the northwest direction at 10 kph.

The areas of Leyte, Eastern Samar, San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, and Kalibo in Aklan were also placed under a state of calamity.

An average of 20 cyclones cross the Philippines each year, with storms becoming fiercer in recent years. More than 6,000 people died and 200,000 homes destroyed when Super Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest-ever storm to make landfall in the Philippines, hit Leyte and Samar six years ago. —KBK, GMA News