Distribution utilities have restored power to more than 700,000 households in areas hard-hit by Tropical Depression “Usman,” the Department of Energy (DoE) said Thursday.

The homes are mostly in the areas of Bicol, Central, Western, and Eastern Visayas regions and northern parts of Mindanao, DoE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a press briefing. The number represents 87 percent of households that lost electricity at the height of the storm.

A total 3,826 barangays were affected by Usman of which 71 percent or 2,711 now have access to electricity. Some 121 municipalities lost access to energy during the onslaught of the tropical cyclone, but power has been restored in 78 percent or 94 municipalities, to date.

Fuentebella added that 41 electric utilities were affected by the weather disturbance, but it failed to shut down any power plants in the Usman-stricken areas.

“We are now concentrating in areas that had landslides, particularly in Barangay Patitinan in Camarines Sur,” Fuentebella said in Filipino, noting that DoE Secretary Alfonso Cusi directed utilities to ensure that power is available for the rescue and retrieval operations.

Fuentebella said that with the better weather condition now, power restoration will be faster.