‘Nona’ destroys 65,000 houses in Northern Samar

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 17 (PNA) - Typhoon “Nona” destroyed nearly 65,000 houses in Northern Samar when it unleashed its wrath early this week, the Regional Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) said in its initial report issued on Thursday.

Of the 64,972 damaged houses, 58,227 are partially destroyed and 6,745 were totally wrecked. These are located in 23 towns of Northern Samar, including Catarman, the provincial capital. Authorities have not yet received damage reports from the interior town of Silvino Lobos.

Towns with reports on damaged houses are Allen (3,106), Biri (938), Bobon (4,018), Capul (1,102), Catarman (15,119), Catubig (4,562), Gamay (4,608), Lavezares (4,371), Las Navas (6,635), Lapinig (2,440), Laoang (6,224), Lope de Vega (1,908).

Mapanas (1,958), Mondragon (6,647), Palapag (6,373), Pambujan (4,431), San Jose (795), Rosario (2,376), San Antonio (1,466), San Isidro (1,758), San Roque (2,287), San Vicente (708), and Victoria (938).

Northern Samar, with a population of 589,013 as of 2010, experienced the first landfall of typhoon Nona at noon on Monday, forcing the evacuation of about 10,000 people, according to RDRRMC.

The entire province is still experiencing power outages due to damages of the Catarman-Bobolosan 69-kilo Volts (kV) line, Palanas-Cara-Catarman-Allen 69-kV line, and Allen-Ormoc HVDC 350kV line.

The Office of the Civil Defense has been stepping up coordination with affected local government units through the RDRRMC management emergency center in this city. (PNA)
LAP/Sarwell Q. Meniano