The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Offices (FOs) X and CARAGA maintain their close coordination with concerned local government units (LGUs) as heavy rains brought by a Low Pressure Area (LPA) and tail end of a cold front resulting in massive flooding have hit several areas anew in both regions over the weekend.
The regions are now experiencing good weather condition, but floodwaters have not subsided yet, hindering residents to go back to their respective homes and keeping evacuation centers (ECs) still open.
The DSWD-Disaster Response Operations and Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC) reported that as of 2am today, the weather disturbance has affected a total of 55,824 families or 214,433 persons in 182 barangays in Regions X and CARAGA.
There are still 212 ECs open in the CARAGA Region, sheltering 12,643 families or 61,364 individuals. Most of the ECs are located in Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces.
Meanwhile, all ECs in Cagayan de Oro City have now been closed, but the DSWD-FO X continues to monitor the weather in the region.
A total of four provinces, 18 municipalities, Butuan City and 119 barangays are affected by the weather disturbance in the CARAGA Region.
The recent occurrence damaged 82 houses; of this number, 80 are partially damaged, while two are totally damaged. This brings the total number of damaged houses in the region due to the cold front to 506.
According to the report of the DSWD-FO CARAGA, heavy rains caused the water level in Agusan River to rise, causing flashflood to areas located alongside it, including Butuan City and the municipalities of La Paz, Esperanza, Talacogon, Las Nieves, San Luis, Rosario, Bunawan and Veruela.
FO CARAGA provided Family Food Packs (FFPs) and non-food items to affected families seeking temporary shelter in evacuation centers in the region. The field office has 18,770 available FFPs, of which, 9,970 FFPs are at the DPWH warehouse in Butuan City, while others are strategically prepositioned across the region: 2,700 in Prosperidad, ADS; 1,500 in Surigao City; 1,500 in Tandag City; 500 in Kitcharao, ADN; 600 in Dinagat Islands; and, 2,00 in Dapa, Siargao Island.
A total of P8,442,552 worth of assistance has been provided to affected families in Region CARAGA. Of the said amount, the Department has provided P2,808,430, while the LGUs and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) provided P4,614,662 and P1,019,460, respectively.
“Our DSWD-Field Offices in Mindanao region maintain their tight coordination with concerned LGUs in extending help to families who are still reeling from the effects of heavy rains and floods in the past weeks and are now affected anew by inclement weather. Rest assured that our social workers are on double time to help these families,” DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said. ###
