Worst is over in typhoon-stricken Visayas: Roxas

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The worst is over in areas battered by typhoon Haiyan, locally named "Yolanda," Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said today.

Roxas likened the situation in central Philippines to that of a patient in a hospital, saying areas ravaged by the typhoon are now "out of the intensive care unit (ICU)."

"The situation (in typhoon-hit areas) has already stabilized. Last week, they were in the emergency room or in the ICU. Now, the worst is over for these areas. We can see that in (government) data as well as in events on the ground," Roxas said in a report released by local media ABS-CBN on its website.

He said looting has stopped and that law and order has been restored in these areas.

Roxas said the Philippine government is continuing its efforts to recover and bury the bodies of those who died following the onslaught of typhoon Haiyan.

However, former Commissions on Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who hails from the central Philippine province of Leyte, said government pronouncements of normalcy in typhoon- stricken areas are not enough.

"It would take a while before things normalize. Rehabilitation and reconstruction of devastated areas should be undertaken to help people return things to normal," Larrazabal said in a radio interview.

Figures from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) show that the death toll from typhoon Haiyan has risen to 4,015. The agency also reported that 18,567 were injured while 1,602 remain missing two weeks after the typhoon slammed into central Philippines.

A total of 2.15 million families or 10.02 million individuals were affected by the typhoon. It also destroyed P12.65 billion ($289.02 million) worth of properties, infrastructure and crops.