Task Force Normalization organized in Yolanda-hit provinces – NDRRMC

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Tuesday that “Task Force Normalization” had been organized in Leyte. NDRRMC Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario explained that the task force was created so that  businesses can start operating in Yolanda-hit provinces as soon as possible, according to a report by Bombo Radyo Philippines. Members of the task force were given specific responsibilities:

• Food and water distribution, led by Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman
• Cadaver collection led by BFP Senior Superintendent Pablito Cordeta
• Debris cleaning and clearing led by MMDA Sec. Francis Tolentino
• Law and order led by PNP Gen. Alex Paul Monteagudo
• Health led by DOH's Dr. Emmanuel Bueno
• Yolanda led by Maj. Gen. Belarmino of AFP
• Normalization by Leyte Vice-Gov. Carlos P. Loreto and Tacloban City Administrator Tecson Lim

The responsibility for reconstruction is yet to be assigned. The Yolanda task force collects cadavers in Tacloban and Tanauan, and is trying to create a “conveyor belt” system for the distribution of relief goods landing in Ormoc and Guiuan. Among the responsibilities of the Normalization task force is the restoration of street lighting and the opening of gas stations. P12B in property damage The damage caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda reached P12,020,150,392.92, the NDRRMC reported Tuesday. Of this, P1,580,921,615 was in infrastructure and P10,439,228,777.92 was in agriculture. Yolanda's death toll stayed at 3,982, with 18,503 injured and 1,602 missing. Some 2,119,332 families or 9,853,628 people from 10,718 villages in 44 provinces had been affected. Of these, 86,096 families or 4,258,900 people are staying in 1,536 evacuation centers. At least 323,464 houses were destroyed while 324,706 were damaged. — DVM, GMA News