Miriniae weakened on Sunday, allowing thousands of people to return home from evacuation centres [AFP]

Authorities moved to restore power and repair damage after Mirinae hit the Philippines, forcing thousands to move to safer areas.

As of about 6am local time on Sunday (22:00 GMT), Mirinae had weakened and was located 450km southwest of Manila in the South China Sea, according to the weather bureau.

Crews were clearing roads of fallen trees and power lines in Laguna, a province just south of Manila, and nearby areas.

Repair efforts

Efforts were being made to repair four bridges that collapsed in urban areas south of Manila, while power was slowly being restored to most of the 22 towns that were blacked out at the height of the typhoon, the national unit of the Red Cross said.

"We have been told that power in most areas has been restored and in terms of flooding, the waters receded within hours," Gwen Pang, the Philippine Red Cross secretary-general, told the AFP news agency.

She said a pre-emptive evacuation that resulted in the transfer of about 115,000 people in the typhoon's direct path to safer ground, had meant fewer casualties compared with two recent deadly storms.

Tropical Storm Ketsana, which caused massive flooding on September 26, and Typhoon Parma, which hit a week later, together killed more than 1,100 people.

"People were more prepared and more or less knew what to do," Pang said.

"People did not wait until it was too late to evacuate and were quickly moved away from harm's way to safer ground."

Pang said most of the more than 5,000 people who had moved into temporary shelters had begun trickling back to their homes as the weather cleared on Sunday.

However, relief and rehabilitation efforts will continue for the 87,000 people still packed into evacuation centres whose homes were destroyed by Ketsana and Parma, she said.

"We are moving into the early recovery stage, looking at shelter requirements as well as the medical concerns of these people," Pang said.

Disaster conscious

A spokesman for Gloria Arroyo, the Philippine president, said the government was grateful that Mirinae had left the country as quickly as it came.

"We thank our people for co-operating and by being more disaster conscious," Cerge Remonde said.

While the Philippines is used to an average of 20 typhoons a year, the recent deadly storms had tested its disaster response plans to the limit, forcing it to seek international help.

The storms also exposed the government's poor urban planning that has allowed shanty towns to rise beside floodways and riverbanks.

Valerie Lewin from the Oxfam aid group said: "The government has been quite well prepared [having learned from previous typhoons. There has been a lot of pre-emptive evacuation.

"[However], a lot of people went back to the evacuation centre, and we are concerned about the hygiene of the centre at the moment."

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4