Habagat affects 69,000 people

MANILA, Philippines – Thousands fled their homes as rivers swelled and overflowed due to heavy rains on Saturday, August 13. 

As of 6 am Sunday, August 14, at least 14,745 families or about 69,000 people had been affected by the monsoon rains, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which heads the response cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). 

According to the DSWD, at least 79 evacuation centers were opened in affected areas in Luzon, serving 3,888 families in the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, and Calabarzon. Meanwhile, at least 16,483 families that are being served by the agency are outside evacuation centers.

Based on the report of the education cluster of the NDRRMC, at least 23 schools were used as evacuation centers – 19 schools in NCR and Calabarzon and 4 schools in Central Luzon.

Prepositioned resources

In a press briefing at 5 pm on Saturday, state weather bureau PAGASA warned Luzon and Western Visayas to brace for more heavy rains in the next 5 days.

For Sunday in particular, PAGASA said there would be more monsoon rains in Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas. These areas should watch out for even more floods and landslides.

“We urge Filipinos, especially in flood-prone areas, to make their own preparations for any possible emergencies even as the DSWD also monitors developments. We have prepositioned food packs, and emergency rescue and relief units are on standby,” Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said.

The DSWD has around P34.2 million on standby for the purchase of emergency relief supplies. The agency prepared 196,626 family packs for distribution to affected families.

About 10,000 brown rice bars will also be delivered to DSWD-NCR on Sunday.

Social welfare and development teams are in coordination with local government units to identify other needed services. – Rappler.com