San fernando: Electricity in 83.33 percent of households in La Union province has been restored as of Aug. 6, two weeks after Typhoon Emong (international name Co-May) lashed the province. Governor Mario Eduardo Ortega, in a statement on Thursday, has called for cooperation to further expedite the restoration of power.
According to Philippines News Agency, Ortega had a dialogue with the two electric companies in the province and assured the residents of their prompt response as they work double time to fully restore the power to all affected households. Power in eight out of 20 localities has been fully restored.
‘Kaunting patience na lang po, inaayos na po ng ating linemen ang mga linya ng kuryente at ginagawa po nila lahat ng kanilang mga makakaya upang maibalik ang suplay ng kuryente sa inyong lugar sa lalong madaling panahon (A little more patience as the linemen are fixing the powerline and they are doing their very best to restore electricity in your areas as soon as possible),’ he said. He asked for everyone’s cooperation, especially in road clearing, to hasten power restoration.
Typhoon Emong has toppled electric posts and trees, causing province-wide power interruptions. The province is now under a state of calamity due to the effects of the typhoon. Board Member Chary Nisce has also ensured sufficient calamity funds to be used in the recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
Electric companies from neighboring provinces also heeded the province’s call for La Union Agkaysa as they deployed their personnel and extended help to the local electric supply providers to hasten the province’s power rehabilitation. ‘We thank all the electric companies from neighboring provinces for lending their hands to bring back our power supply;’ Ortega said.
As of 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the number of damaged houses in the province due to Emong has reached over 39,000, of which almost 36,000 were partially destroyed while 3,500 were wrecked. Damage to agriculture was over PHP232 million, over PHP7 million to livestock, over PHP210 million, and PHP6 billion to infrastructure. The province’s casualty count from the recent typhoon stands at two deaths and three injured.
