'Pablo' leaves at least 224 dead, hundreds more injured in Mindanao

Described by PAGASA as the strongest typhoon to hit Mindanao in two decades, Typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha) has left at least 224 dead and hundreds more injured in the region. Philippine Army 10th Infantry Division spokesperson Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza told GMA News Online on Wednesday that as of 2 p.m., the numbers stand at 143 people killed, 156 injured and 58 missing in Compostela Valley; and 81 dead, 48 injured and 25 missing in Davao Oriental. At least, 3,388 families have also been evacuated from their homes. The typhoon’s 210-kph gusts uprooted trees, destroyed houses and damaged agricultural crops on Tuesday . Only two of the 200 houses in a barangay in the coastal town of Boston, Davao Oriental were undamaged while its three churches were destroyed, Davao Oriental’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported on Wednesday. In Compostela Valley, a landslide covered a health center in New Bataan town, killing a four-year-old girl among others, GMA TV reporter on the ground Cedric Castillo told GMA News Online. An army patrol base and an army truck have also been washed away in New Bataan. At least three soldiers have been reported dead while eight other are still missing, the 10th ID said in statement on Wednesday. Rescue and retrieval ops Paniza noted that the military is on top of rescue and retrieval operations. “Our troops are now on clearing operations in key routes to allow vehicles to pass through while others are in assistance to local government units in the delivery of relief goods”, Paniza said in a statement. On Wednesday, President Benigno S.C. Aquino III said that P8 billion has been allotted for disaster relief operations and infrastructure repair in the areas hit by the typhoon. Apart from the damaged infrastructure, the restoration of electricity throughout the entire province of Davao Oriental poses the most difficult challenge, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas  said in a separate statement Wednesday. “The local electric cooperative has assured us that gradual restoration of power begins 24 to 36 hours from now,” he said. Typhoon Pablo was the 16th storm to hit the country this year. For the month of December, Mindanao only gets one tropical cyclone every 10 years on average. But for the second December running, the region has been hit by severe storms. In December 2011, Tropical Storm Sendong battered Northern Mindanao, killing at least 1,200 people. — BM, GMA News