The number of casualties caused by Typhoon “Emong” is now at 43 with 24 deaths in Region I, 16 deaths in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), one in Region II and two in Region III.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), in its latest situation report on Sunday evening, stated that 42 people are injured and 7 are still unaccounted for.

The statement added that about 31,227 families are affected in 364 barangays of 44 municipalities and five cities in 11 provinces in Regions I (La Union and Pangasinan), II (Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Quirino, and Cagayan), III and CAR (Ifugao, Kalinga, and Benguet).

Dr. Anthony Golez, NDCC chair, earlier noted that around 822 families are housed in evacuation centers.

Golez, in an interview over ANC's Dateline Philippines Sunday, mentioned that the possible spread of diseases in evacuation centers is a major consideration at the moment.

The NDCC spokesman then lauded the Department of Health for the “quick dispatch of medical surveillance teams.” Because of this, Golez said that there is still no outbreak of disease in evacuation centers.

He also cited the Department of Social Welfare and Development for distributing family packs to affected residents and the Department of Agriculture for clearing the roads so that the “delivery of goods will not be hampered.”

Golez said that about the NDCC is also concerned with the rehabilitation of damaged houses, agricultural lands and public infrastructure.

The NDCC also reported that there are 6,0372 totally damaged houses in Region I, seven in Isabela in Region II, and 38 totally damaged houses in Ifugao in CAR. Partially damaged houses amount to 17,222 in the four affected regions.

Summer almost over

The country’s weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adminstration (PAGASA), meantime, gave some good news to the people affected by Typhoon “Emong.”

“We don’t see any low pressure area or tropical cyclone either inside or outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility that could bring again tremendous amounts of rainfall,” Nathaniel Cruz, chief weather forecaster of PAGASA told “Dateline Philippines Sunday.”

Cruz, however, added that there is an Intertropical Convergence Zone affecting Visayas and Mindanao which can “also produce intense rainfall associated with thunderstorms.”

Because of the presence of thunderstorms, he said that the areas affected by “Emong” are “vulnerable to landslides.”

“We don’t see any reason why there will be flooding,” he added.

Cruz also commented that “summer, the dry season is almost over.”

He noted that “normally, the start of the rainy season is during the second half of May.”

“Actually what happened in March, April and of course the first week of May… It’s quite unusual,” he said. “The rainy season started almost very early, almost before the end of April because of the passage of three tropical cyclones—Crising , Dante and Emong.”

PAGASA’s chief weather forecaster then advised the public to prepare for the upcoming typhoon season. “Most of these (typhoons) will cross the country in the coming months,” noted Cruz.