More than 3,000 individuals might spend the Christmas season out of their homes as they remained in evacuation centers due to the devastation brought by Tropical Storm "Kabayan".
A report released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Friday, Dec. 22, showed that a total of 1,655 families composed of 3,368 individuals were being assisted by disaster officials in 19 evacuation centers in Mimaropa (Region 4B), Western Visayas (Region 6), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Davao Region (Region 11), and Caraga (Region 13).
The total number of affected individuals has reached 102,477 families or 385,817 individuals, the NDRRMC said.
The report said that there were 1,943 damaged houses in Regions 4B, 11, and 13.
The total damage to infrastructure was pegged at P202,000 in Region 13 alone. This is expected to further increase as more reports come in the following days.
Meanwhile, nine areas remained without power supply in Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Agusan del Sur. Power supply in 20 other areas in Regions 11 and 13 were already restored.
Despite the predicament of the victims of Kabayan, the NDRRMC assured that the national government will provide relief assistance to sustain their daily living until such time that they are able to go back to their homes.
The NDRRMC has already provided P11.17 million worth of relief assistance to the typhoon victims as of Friday.
Kabayan weakened into a low pressure area before it exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Dec. 20.
However, bad weather continued to affect parts of the country due to heavy rains brought by the shearline.