Power restored in 49 of 138 barangays in Yolanda-hit Tacloban City

Power has been restored to about 35 percent of barangays in Tacloban City, more than a month after it was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

As of Wednesday, a task force on normalization reported 49 of the city's 138 villages now have power again, radio dzBB's Rodil Vega reported.

The report also cited data from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines indicating all transmission lines in the city are now fully operational.

However, power could still not be immediately restored in some households as there are no certified electricians who would attest the connections are safe.

The dzBB report also said the Bureau of Fire Protection also needs such certifications from professional electricians to make sure fires caused by short circuits do not break out if power to the homes is reconnected.

Tacloban was one of the areas hit hardest by Yolanda, which devastated Visayas and Southern Luzon and left more than 6,000 dead.

On Tuesday, residents marked the 40th day after Yolanda with a candle-lighting activity.

Death toll

The number of deaths due to Yolanda climbed to 6,069, on Tuesday with 27,665 hurt, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

In its 6 a.m. update, the NDRRMC also said at least 1,779 people remain missing in the wake of Yolanda, which devastated Visayas and Southern Luzon last Nov. 8.

As of Tuesday morning, the NDRRMC also said Yolanda had affected 3,424,593 families or 16,078,581 people in 12,139 villages in 44 provinces.

Of these, 890,895 families or 4,095,280 people were displaced, with 20,949 families or 101,527 people staying in 381 evacuation centers.

It said Yolanda destroyed 550,928 houses and damaged 589,404 others.

It added the damage caused by Yolanda amounted to P35,547,986,330.67, including P18,226,835,334.29 in infrastructure and P17,321,150,996.38 in agriculture. — LBG, GMA News