Super Typhoon ‘Uwan’ impacted nearly 3 million households on Sunday as the destructive cyclone submerged communities and downed power lines across the Bicol region and the provinces of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Northern Samar and Samar.
Citing initial reports as of 8:00 p.m., the National Electrification Administration (NEA) through its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (DRRMD) said at least 20 electric
cooperatives (ECs) in 12 affected regions declared a state of total power interruption.
NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda noted they are closely monitoring the situation of 89 ECs across 55 provinces that were along the path of ‘Uwan.’ Of these figures, 32 reported normal operations while 34 experienced outages.
Administrator Almeda said the NEA remains on full alert throughout the onslaught of ‘Uwan’ to determine appropriate courses of action.
A total of 2,931,220 member-consumer-owners are waiting for electricity services to be restored as the super typhoon passes.
Almeda said the power co-op based in Catanduanes reported that some municipalities in their service areas are affected by floods.
The rural electrification sector is checking developments in Aurora, where ‘Uwan’ made landfall at past 9:00 p.m.
The NEA chief attributed some outages to the safety protocols enforced by power transmission and distribution utilities, considering the strong winds unleashed by the super typhoon.
He appealed for public understanding as the ECs assess the situation and inspect the affected power lines.
“Humihingi po kami ng konting understanding at pasensya… Hindi po madaling magbalik ng kuryente pag lagpas ng typhoon (We ask for a bit of understanding and patience… It is not easy to bring electricity back after a typhoon passes),” Administrator Almeda said in a DZMM interview.
“Lahat po yan ay i-i-inspect at gagawa ng line assessment ang mga electric cooperative to make sure wala pong disgrasya, lalong-lalo na po doon sa mga metro na lumubog sa baha. Masinsin po nilang ini-inspect po ‘yan just to make sure na walang madidisgrasya (Everything will be inspected, and the electric cooperatives will conduct line assessments to ensure safety, particularly for meters under floodwaters. They’re carrying out thorough inspections to prevent accidents),” he added.
Administrator Almeda said the NEA remains on full alert throughout the onslaught of ‘Uwan’ to determine appropriate courses of action, finalize the augmentation of resources and manpower for post-typhoon activities, and support the recovery of all affected ECs.
