Millions without power in Philippines as storm death toll rises
MANILA (AFP) - Millions of people are still without electricity or clean water in the Philippines after Typhoon Xangsane pummeled the region leaving
nearly 150 people dead or missing.
Three days after Manila was shaken by its most powerful storm for 10 years, rescuers retrieved 14 more bodies, bringing the confirmed death toll to
76, the Office of Civil Defence said Sunday. Another 69 people were still missing Sunday.
While floodwaters have begun to recede in many areas around the capital, nearly 105,000 people on Sunday remained in evacuation camps, said the
office.
Xangsane meanwhile slammed into Vietnam on Sunday, packing strong winds and rains that cut power to the central city of Danang and sparked flight
cancellations nationwide.
President Gloria Arroyo on Sunday ordered relief agencies to speed up operations to restore power and the search for the missing.
Her office said Arroyo visited the devastated eastern province of Sorsogon on Saturday and was "overwhelmed" by the devastation.
"I call for national unity and cooperation in this national effort to recover from calamity," Arroyo said in a statement.
Arroyo also ordered relief agencies and repair crews to restore electricity within the next 24 to 48 hours, with police and the army's
engineering units aiding in the massive clean-up.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority head Bayani Fernando said reports from the Manila Electric Co., which supplies power to the capital and
nearby provinces, said their technicians were working double time to bring back power to millions still left in the dark.
With electricity cut, pumping stations were also not working, leaving large areas without drinking water.
"We are trying to get debris off power lines. We can't restore power until we get them out," Fernando said.
The United States on Sunday said it was making available 100,000 dollars to help relief assistance to its former colony. The funds will be used for
supplies such as blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats and water containers.
Manila and nearby provinces remain in a "state of calamity", the government said, with tens of thousands still sheltered in evacuation camps.
The non-government organization League of Urban Poor for Action (LUPA) on Sunday said relief agencies have yet to reach some two thousand families in
a shanty town blown away by Xangsane.
"We are in danger of dehydration as there is no potable water in the area, as well as no food to be had," said Merlinda Verano, a LUPA
spokeswoman.
She said residents of Parola neighborhood in Manila's rough Tondo district were living on the streets and scrounging debris to construct
makeshift shelters.
Officials from the National Transmission Corp. said none of the country's power plants had been damaged by the storm but the problem of
repairing fallen lines was huge.
Millions remained without power on the main northern island of Luzon. On the Bicol peninsula at Luzon's southernmost tip, which bore the brunt
of the storm, only about five percent of the electrical service had returned, it said.
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