MANILA (AFP) ― Millions of people in the Philippines endured a second sweltering day without power after a ferocious typhoon paralyzed the capital and wrecked flimsy rural homes, claiming at least 40 lives.
Utility crews scrambled to repair thousands of toppled power pylons as well as transmission lines as the death toll from Typhoon Rammasun, the first major storm of the Southeast Asian archipelago’s rainy season, inched up.
“It will take two weeks for power to normalize to pre-typhoon levels for everyone,” Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla told reporters, conceding that progress in restoration work was slow.
Meanwhile the authorities expressed frustration amid signs many of those who died had ignored government warnings about the dangers posed by the typhoon, one of 20 forecast to hit the Asian archipelago this year.
“We still have to find out what exactly are the reasons a lot of our countrymen refuse to heed the warnings,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Alexander Pama told reporters.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
