Official Yolanda toll now 5,500

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from Super Typhoon Yolanda, which ravaged the Visayas two weeks ago, has reached 5,500, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday.

The NDRRMC said 26,136 were injured and 1,757 still missing.

The death toll is expected to continue increasing due to the slow reporting of casualty figures by the NDRRMC.

The NDRRMC also reported that more than two million families or more than nine million persons were affected by the monster storm.

Yolanda pummeled 11,939 barangays in Southern Tagalog, Bicol region, Central, Eastern, Western Visayas and Caraga region.

The NDRRMC said the government and non-government groups are now operating in 1,069 evacuation centers to shelter and address the basic needs of 782,222 families or 3,542,370 people displaced by the storm.

Most of these displaced families have lost their homes, mostly located along the coastal areas of the storm-devastated Eastern and Western Visayas regions.

In its latest count, the NDRRMC said that 1,149,529 houses in the storm-ravaged Visayas were totally or partially destroyed by Yolanda.