'Milenyo' kills 20, injures 215, destroys P525M in crops, infra

The Philippines on Friday reeled from the wrath of typhoon ‘Milenyo’— the most destructive to strike Metro Manila and Luzon island in a decade – with official sources reporting tens of thousands displaced and half-a-billion pesos in property damaged. Reports from the National Disaster Coordinating Council listed 20 persons killed, 215 injured, 12 missing, and over 60,000 individuals who were flooded or left homeless, mostly from Metro Manila and Luzon provinces. Initial damage to crops was placed at P171 million, while repair of damaged infrastructure could cost P354 million, or a total of P525 million. In Metro Manila alone, damage to infrastructure was estimated at P210 million. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita assured that at least P240 million in Calamity Funds would be available for post-typhoon relief and rescue operations. Typhoon "Milenyo" (international codename: Xangsane), left Metro Manila and most of Luzon island without power and phone services the whole day Thursday to Friday morning. Services were restored only in scattered areas by mid-Friday. ‘Milenyo’ destroyed 380 cellsites and toppled at least 27 steel electrical towers. Huge losses RV Vilafuerte, corporate communications head at the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), said his office sustained "huge losses" due to damage to power lines and from failure to deliver power. TransCo delivers 120,000 MWH everyday at an average price of P3 per MWH. Most of the toppled towers were in the Bicol area, which was the hardest hit by the typhoon. Some were located at the border of Gumaca, Quezon and Labo, Camarines Norte. Vilafuerte said that Transco was having a hard time restoring electricity to areas serviced by electric cooperatives in Southern Luzon, after the cooperatives experienced damage to their distribution posts. "The cooperatives need to repair their own electric distribution posts before they can receive electricity from Transco," Vilafuerte said. The official said it would be difficult to gauge if Transco would be able to meet the October 3 target for full restoration of electricity in the Bicol region, as the target date was set before the aerial survey was conducted. Vilafuerte said that as of 3 p.m. Friday, electricity has been restored to 45 percent of the whole Luzon grid, and in 40 percent of areas serviced by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). The country's largest power distributor which supplies electricity to 4 million households, Meralco said it was accelerating restoration of power to 80 percent of its franchise area by 6 pm Friday. Trains grounded The Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit 1 and 2 -- the capital region's foremost transport artery that ferry an average of a million passengers on weekdays -- run on power supplied by Meralco and remained grounded until Friday morning. LRT Line 1 resumed partial operations by mid-Friday. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country's largest phone firm, said the typhoon damaged 380 of its cellsites. PLDT operates the Smart Communications Inc., the country's largest mobile phone firm. It also operates cheaper mobile service Talk N' Text under affiliate Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel). PLDT spokesman Mon Isberto said the cellsites, mostly located in Metro Manila, were still inoperational because of lack of power. Some antennae were also disoriented by the strong winds, resulting in a reduction in the network's capacity. Killed, wounded Officials said 20 persons were killed while 215 were wounded in the wake of the destruction, while 12 others were still missing, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. Duque, a member of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, released the figures during a press briefing in Malacañang Friday afternoon. Local officials in General Trias town in Cavite, however, reported as many as 53 persons were feared dead as surging flood waters engulfed dozens of villages. Authorities were also awaiting word about hundreds of students in Calauan, Laguna reportedly trapped under mud and rocks. Among the 16 deaths reported by NDCC, four were from Metro Manila, one from Central Luzon, four from Southern Luzon, four from Bicol, two from Iloilo, and another from Ormoc City in Leyte. NDCC said the typhoon destroyed a total of 235 homes around the country, while partially damaging 1,026 residences. Here comes 'Neneng' Even as typhoon "Milenyo" continues to move away from the country, a new storm is threatening to hit the main Philippine island of Luzon next week. In Malacañang, Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro said Friday that the latest tropical cyclone is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday. By middle of next week, Alabastro said the latest weather disturbance would make landfall and hit Luzon, which had been battered by Milenyo on Thursday. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Milenyo was located 460 km west northwest of Metro Manila with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near its center and gustiness of up to 150 kph. Moving in a west northwest direction at 17 kph, Milenyo was heading toward the general direction of Vietnam, the Pagasa advisory said. All public storm signals have been lowered. By Saturday morning, Milenyo was expected to be 800 km west northwest of Metro Manila or 680 km west northwest of Iba, Zambales north of Manila. - GMANews.TV