Over 304,200 people or 76,000 families will be spending their Christmas in evacuation centers, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Friday, Dec. 24.
Based on the latest report of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), as of 6 p.m., Dec. 24, 304,234 individuals or 76,383 families have been logged as evacuees. They were taking temporary shelter in 1, 246 evacuation centers from 10 regions affected by the onslaught of typhoon Odette.
Meanwhile, the number of families who opted to stay with their relatives and friends stood at 70,042 or 243,288 individuals.
The DSWD reported 927,554 families or 3,600,292 individuals affected by the typhoon from 5,704 barangays.
Based on the DROMIC report, the 10 affected regions were Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos), and Caraga.
The report noted a substantial increase in the number of houses damaged due to Odette. There were 317,591 damaged houses. These include 107,682 totally damaged houses and 209,909 partially damaged houses.
The humanitarian assistance extended by the DSWD, local government units, and non-government organizations to the typhoon victims increased to more than P93.2 million.