BATANES province declared a state of calamity due to the damage wrought by Typhoon “Ferdie” as the Department of Social Welfare and Development pledged to airlift relief aid to the province if weather permits on Sunday.
DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said Saturday assistance will be delivered to families affected by Typhoon “Ferdie” once the Philippine Air Force confirms the deployment of C-130 cargo plane.
She said her department has prepared 20,000 pieces of ready-to-eat brown rice bars, 800 family food packs, 5,000 pieces of Malong, 5,000 bottles of water, three generating sets from the Office of Civil Defense, 40 rolls of rope, and 30 rolls of laminated sack.
“These goods have been at the Villamor Airbase since September 14,” she said, adding that it was agreed that the relief aid would be flown to Batanes as soon as a window of opportunity opens.
The department will also send a Rapid Emergency Telecommunications Team (RETT) and a Rapid Damage and Needs Analysis (RDANA) team from the Cagayan Valley region.
Meanwhile, officials of the regional Office of Civil Defense have estimated damage to agricultural crops at about P37 million.
OCD regional director Norma Talosig has estimated that power supply will be restored in two to three weeks’ time.
Batanes residents have been pleading for potable drinking water, food, generating sets, water pumps, transformers, galvanized iron for damaged roofs and construction materials, she added.
As of 6 a.m. Saturday, some 2,710 families or 10,344 persons from the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions have been displaced due to Typhoon “Ferdie,” of which 20 families or 151 persons are still in three evacuation centers in Basco, Batanes.
Some 2,651 families or 10,063 persons have also taken temporary shelter in relatives’ and friends’ houses.
Aside from the relief supplies that will be airlifted, a DSWD field office has provided 110 sacks of rice, 46 boxes of meatloaf, 56 boxes of sausage and 21 boxes of sardines to typhoon victims in Basco; 30 sacks of rice to victims in Ivana; and 30 sacks of rice to victims in Uyugan, all in Batanes.
Some 50 sacks of rice have also been readied by the provincial social welfare office of Batanes for allocation to affected municipalities.