133 dead in Eastern Visayas due to Agaton —police, CDRRMO

The death toll from Tropical Depression Agaton has climbed to 133, according to regional police and local authorities in Eastern Visayas on Thursday.

In its 6 p.m. situational report, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) of Baybay City in Leyte announced 20 more deaths from its previous total of 81, bringing the total deaths in the city to 101.

Eastern Visayas Regional Police spokesperson Police Colonel Ma. Bella Rentuaya earlier confirmed to GMA News Online that as of 5 a.m., their consolidated partial report showed that 31 have died in Abuyog town in Leyte and one in Motiong town in Samar.

The reported tally by the regional police and CDRRMO in Eastern Visayas is higher than the 72 reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in the region as of 8 a.m. on Thursday.

The NDRRMC said the reported death toll nationwide due to Agaton has increased to 76 as of Thursday morning.

CDRRMO Baybay also said at least 103 individuals are missing, but the number is still subject for confirmation.

In Jun Veneracion's report on 24 Oras on Thursday, officials are still hopeful they can find more survivors.

"Although ilang araw na ito, pero we are still hopeful na makakuha pa tayo ng buhay," Colonel Noel Vestur of the 802nd Brigade said..

Major General Edgardo De Leon in the same report said rescue and retrieval operations will continue until Monday.

A total of 920,727 people or 279,557 families were affected in 1,296 barangays in Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and Bangsamoro, the NDRRMC reported.

Meanwhile, the damage to agriculture has reached a total of P639.7 million, covering 16,251 hectares of agricultural areas in Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen and Caraga.

The weather bureau PAGASA on Thursday reported that the trough of Typhoon Malakas (formerly Basyang) will be affecting the eastern section of the Visayas.

Eastern Visayas and Dinagat Islands are said to experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the trough of the typhoon. — with Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News