The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said tropical storm ‘Enteng’ and the enhanced southwest monsoon rains (Habagat) have so far affected an estimated 6,052 families or 24,043 individuals across 76 barangays in Bicol, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas.
Citing its Disaster Response Operations Management Information and Communication (DROMIC) report as of early Monday morning, September 2, the DSWD said there are 909 families or 3,736 people currently taking temporary shelter in 31 evacuation centers.
DSWD Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency is continuously producing family food packs to ensure immediate replenishment and availability of food and non-food items for the affected residents.
The DSWD initially provided P410,000 worth of aid for their ongoing relief operations. “Other DSWD FOs (field offices) are on standby for possible inter-FO augmentation. We ensure that all our offices are ready to provide assistance as the need arises,” said Dumlao.
Currently, there are more than 1.74 million boxes of family food packs and P1.21 billion worth of non-food items available in the DSWD’s National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City, Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Cebu City, and several FOs.
“It was reported to us on Sunday that there are stranded passengers at the Tabaco Port in Tabaco City, Albay. Our DSWD FO in Bicol, in coordination with the concerned LGUs (local government units), has already distributed hot meals to these stranded individuals,” Dumlao noted.
In a Facebook post, the DSWD-Bicol said it also activated its mobile command center in Naga City, Camarines Sur to address the impact of tropical storm ‘Enteng’ in the province. The unit is equipped with various telecommunication devices to bridge communication gaps in disaster-stricken areas.
