As fireworks lit the evening sky when the clock struck 12 midnight Wednesday, 103 cities and municipalities in Visayas island and parts of southern Luzon remained in the dark without electricity due to typhoon “Ursula,” the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) bared.
As of 6 a.m. of January 1, 2020, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said only 50 of the total 153 cities and municipalities that experienced power outage during the onslaught of Ursula last week have their electricity restored.
Jalad said code “blue” alert status was still up at the Operations Center of the NDRRMC as officials continued to coordinate with concerned government agencies, such as the Department of Energy, to address the matter.
The Eastern Visayas (Region 8) has the most number of cities and municipalities which experienced power outage which is 81.
Of the affected areas in Eastern Visayas, 25 have their electricity restored while 56 have not.
In Western Visayas (Region 6), 47 areas were affected by the power outage, including the entire province of Aklan and Capiz, 11 cities and municipalities in Iloilo, and three more in Antique.
At present, Jalad said 70 to 80 percent of Capiz has already restored its electricity but portions of Roxas, Panay, Pontevedra, President Roxas and Pilar towns were still experiencing power outage.
In Central Visayas (Region 7), 12 areas in Cebu were affected by power outage.
These were the cities and municipalities of Bantayan, Madridejos, Lapu Lapu, Pilar, Borbon, Catmon, Daanbantayan, Bogo, San Remigio, San Francisco, Tabogon and Tabuelan.
Jalad said electricity in Pilar, Bogo City, San Remigio, San Francisco and Tabuelan were fully restored. On the other hand, power in parts of Lapu Lapu City and Madridejos was also back. Five areas still had no electricity, he added.
In Mimaropa, 13 areas experienced power outage including the entire province of Marinduque; the town of Bulalacao on Oriental Mindoro; San Jose, Calinataan, Rizal and Magsaysay in Occidental Mindoro; and Alcantara and Santa Fe in Romblon.
Jalad said that only the province of Marinduque has its power fully restored while the others have not. (Martin Sadongdong)