Some 145 line workers from 24 electric cooperative (ECs) are in Occidental Mindoro aiding their counterpart in the reconstruction of distribution lines and restoration of power after Typhoon Ursula, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said.
In addition to the line crews, these ECs from Calabarzon, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Mimaropa sent 16 boom trucks and 12 utility vehicles to assist the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (OMECO), which still has 45,000 consumers without power.
OMECO suffered P21.509-million worth of damage from the onslaught of Ursula.
They are all part of the “Task Force Kapatid Ursula,” a special unit of line workers strategically organized and mobilized by the NEA in coordination with the Philippine Rural of Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA). The role of the task force is to quicken the pace of power restoration activities in the aftermath of calamities.
With the help of the task force, OMECO has already restored power to about 43.36 percent or 34,446 of the 79,448 households affected under its coverage area as of Wednesday.
In all, about 195 line workers including OMECO personnel, 18 boom trucks and 14 utility vehicles are in the field focused on restoration efforts.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong, who visited OMECO on Wednesday (January 8), said the EC is one of the hardest hit power distribution utilities by the typhoon with over 480 damaged structures or utility poles.
The damage caused by Typhoon Ursula to the EC sector was already at P455.484 million as of Wednesday (January 8), according to the NEA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (DRRMD).
OMECO suffered P21.509-million worth of damage from the onslaught of Ursula. The amount does not include the cost of damage inflicted by Typhoon Tisoy also in December, which pegged at P17.653 million.