MANILA, Philippines — About 397,000 Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers affected by severe tropical storm Kristine (international name: Trami) are experiencing power outages Thursday afternoon.

However, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said that figure was already down from the 535,000 affected customers recorded around 8 a.m.

READ: Kristine kills 7 people and affects more than 2 million people, according to the NDRRMC

“As of 11 a.m., we would like to inform you that there are still many areas within the Meralco franchise that are affected,” Zaldarriaga revealed during a press briefing.

“We have approximately 397,000 customers still affected by power outages at midday. This figure is therefore down from the 535,000 reported at 8 a.m. this morning,” he added.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Storm Kristine

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Zaldriaga revealed that most of the affected customers are in Laguna, Cavite, Quezon Province, Batangas, Metro Manila and Bulacan.

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READ: Kristine now flies over the Cordillera region while crossing Northern Luzon – Pagasa

“Most of these power outages are due to strong winds, with the exception of about 80 customers in Valenzuela due to flooding. We expect this figure to decline further as the day progresses as the work of our operational staff in the affected areas is uninterrupted,” he said.