Ulysses death toll hits 67
MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Ulysses has now claimed at least 67 lives in the Philippines, the government's disaster coordination council disclosed Sunday.
In its latest update, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council confirmed that the casualties linked to Ulysses have reached 67.
READ: 'Ulysses' hit Luzon hard. Here's how you can help
Of the dead, 22 are from Cagayan Valley, 3 are from Central Luzon, 17 are from Calabarzon, 8 are from Bicol Province, 10 are from the Cordillera Administrative Region, and 8 are from Metro Manila.
The NDRRMC also counted 21 injured and 12 missing in the aftermath of Ulysses.
Cagayan province, among the areas hardest-hit by Ulysses, has since declared a state of calamity, with thousands still seeking shelter and assistance.
Videos that have since gone viral on social media showed residents calling for help in the pitch-black darkness, still trapped on their roof tops as night fell.
LOOK: Aerial footage captured by members of the Coast Guard Aviation Force shows the dire situation in Enrile, Cagayan, where floodwaters have all but submerged most residential houses in the area. @PhilstarNews #CagayanNeedsHelp pic.twitter.com/JBcNqRUYNn
— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) November 14, 2020
'No discrepancies'
As of press time, the national police's own count of the death toll stands at 53, counting 23 lives lost in Cagayan Valley versus the NDRRMC's count of 22.
READ: Trapped residents scream for help: We’re dying here
In terms of costs, the NDRRMC recorded P1.19 billion in agricultural losses and P470 million in infrastructure damages, though public works secretary Mark Villar said that the department recorded P4.3 billion in total damages.
"NDRRMC is working closely with all member-agencies. There is no discrepancy in the figures. The figures provided by the good SPWH is their agency's estimate of the possible damages to infrastructure incurred in all affected areas," NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said in a text message when asked about the differences in tallies.
"The figures that NDRRMC reports po are the actual computed damages as reported by the RDRRMCs from their ongoing damage assessment," he added.
Follow this thread for updates on tropical cyclone Ulysses (international name: Vamco).
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana clarifies that Vice President Leni Robredo did not use any military aircraft to provide relief goods in typhoon-hit Catanduanes.
Lorenzana further explains that an Air Force "Huey helicopter was used on November 3 to deliver relief goods from Robredo from Legazpi City in Albay to Catanduanes.
"I requested the Philippine Air Force to confirm through their flight manifest and they reported that there was no instance that Vice President Robredo boarded any military aircraft in going to Catanduanes," Lorenzana says.
Cagayan province announces that all classes in public and private schools will remain suspended until the end of November.
Gov. Manual Mamba notes that floodwaters are slowly receding but relief distribution to affected families continue.
"...[I]t is necessary to give families and communities enough time to recover from the devastation, and to avoid compounding the stresses of rehabilitating their homes and their livelihoods with the challenges of distance learning," Mamba says in an executive order released Tuesday.
PUBLIC ADVISORY OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR November 17, 2020 KLASE SA LAHAT NG ANTAS, MAPA-PUBLIKO O PRIBADO SUSPENDIDO...
Posted by Cagayan Provincial Information Office on Monday, 16 November 2020
The House of Representatives will investigate the cause of the massive flooding in Cagayan and Isabela during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses.
“As the death toll continues to rise, and the extent of damage is slowly being revealed, there is an urgent need to examine the actions that were taken during, before and after the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses,” Speaker Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) says.
Velasco, together with Majority Leader Martin Romualdez (Leyte) and Minority Leader Joseph Paduano (Abang Lingkod Party-list), file a House resolution directing the appropriate committee to look into the matter immediately.
Search and retrieval teams composed of policemen, soldiers and local officials who have been searching for three days now since the harrowing landslide in barangay Viewpoint, Banaue, Ifugao another three cadavers Sunday.
Nine bodies were already recovered from the November 11 nighttime landslide that buried a house where 11 individuals including four DPWH personnel (including 2 Engineers) were having coffee in barangay Viewpoint, Banaue. Search teams are still looking for one of the victims.
A survivor meanwhile is now recuperating. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
Vice President Leni Robredo visits Cagayan Valley on Sunday morning to deliver relief assistance to victims of the massive flooding brought about by Typhoon Ulysses.
The vice president went to several evacuation centers in Tuguegarao City to bring food packs, drinking water and mattresses, according to her team.
"The Vice President has instructed her office's ground team to assess the situation in hard-hit areas and continue the relief operations in the province, with the help of private partners under the Angat Buhay program," the OVP says.
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