The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has officially announced the total amount of deaths due to Tropical Depression Usman reached 75 people as of Tuesday, January 1.
According to the announcement of Spokesperson Edgar Posadas, “The numbers when it comes to the reported deaths, these are still for verification and confirmation and therefore they are still unofficial as we are starting to get reports from the different regions,” adding that most of the casualties are from the Bicol region with 59, Eastern Visayas with 13, and three from various other regions. Albay and Camarines Sur have been highly affected as well.
A total of 12 victims had fatalities due to landslides in Maynonong, Sugod, Gajo, and Bariis, with NDRRMC representative from Albay claiming that “after Usman was declared a low pressure area (last Saturday afternoon), the [victims] must have relaxed.” In an interview with Manila radio station DZMM, executive director of the Disaster Risk Reduction Office explained that “Those from the higher ground were, of course, safe from floods, so they did not evacuate but they were hit with a landslide.”
When it comes to damage to agriculture, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported farmers losing P242 million worth of crops. The storm itself hit more than 190,000 people as 69 houses have been damaged – 41 of them completely destroyed.
NDRRMC has reported that Usman has officially exited the country last December 30 after first hitting the Philippines the day before. The government is currently attempting to fix all electric lines and roads to help connect the missing persons. Because of this, Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Sorsogon are all under the state of calamity.
The worst to have hit the country, according to officials, still remains to be 2013’s Super Typhoon Yolonda that killed 6,000 and affected four million mostly in the Tacloban area.