BUTUAN CITY – Some 33,343 families consisting of 106,410 individuals have been affected by flood spawned by nonstop rain dumped by shear line in the Northeastern Mindanao (The Caraga Region), the regional office and action center of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD 13) based here reported Tuesday morning, Dec. 27.
With this current development, the various rescue teams of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) of the local government units (LGUs) spread in the five provinces and six cities in Caraga region are already mobilized to assist the very needs of the affected families.
No fatalities were reported as of press time.
“Data of affected families may increase as validation on the ground is still on-going,” DSWD 13 Regional Information Officer Marko Davey Reyes told The Manila Bulletin on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
He said Surigao del Norte is the most affected province with 21,821 or 65% families affected, followed by Surigao del Sur with 10,452 (31%) families while Agusan del Norte and Dinagat Islands are the least affected with 943 and 127 families, respectively.
Along with the different DRRMCs, the DSWD has been providing support to affected local government units and individuals, the region’s DSWD 13 information office chief said.
Some of the affected families are currently staying in more than 30 evacuation centers in the affected provinces while the rest are with their relatives and friends.
“Ongoing ground validation and assessment in the different evacuation centers and other places are still being conducted, including the total number of partially and totally damaged houses,” Mr. Reyes said.
The DSWD Caraga has P52.88 million worth of stockpile and standby funds ready for release upon the request of LGUs in the region.
A total of 9,762 family food packs are also ready for release at the DSWD regional warehouse here.
Meanwhile, the affected LGUs are advised to submit a request if they need relief augmentation for the affected families.
In this region’s capital city, close to 100 families consisting of more than 400 individuals from the coastal village of Masao (facing Butuan Bay) have been evacuated since Sunday due to floods, huge waves, and strong winds.
The evacuees are temporarily sheltered at the Masao Elementary School.
Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente C. Lagnada already mobilized its rescue and action center social welfare personnel to extend assistance to affected families.
As of this writing, the affected families are immediately provided with welfare goods by the city government.
“We are on the go to assist the affected families,” Mayor Lagnada said.
Meanwhile, strong winds and waves also destroyed more than 50 houses and partially damaged 77 houses in six coastal barangays in the town of Carmen, Agusan del Norte province.
In a related development, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Director Engr. Pol M. Delos Santos already mobilized its different regional, provincial and city action centers, with their respective field and project engineers to look for any debris or obstruction caused by landslides in highways and thoroughfares.
“See to it that the economic flow and movement of the commuting public will not be hampered,” said the region’s top DPWH official, adding that ‘all roads must be passable so that Caraganons and their respective visitors will not be disturbed as they celebrate this Holiday Season.’ As of Tuesday morning, Caraga region comprising the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, and the province of Dinagat Island was placed under the Red Warning level.