Seven deaths and two missing individuals were reported following the destructive winds and flash floods brought by Tropical Storm Fengshen, locally named Ramil, last weekend, the local disaster agency said.
Five of the fatalities were recorded in CALABARZON, while the remaining two were from Region 8, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) latest situational report.
It noted that all the recorded deaths are still subject to validation.
In the same report, there are two missing persons from Region 8 and one injured individual from CALABARZON.
Tropical Storm Fengshen has also affected nearly 38,000 families or more than 133,000 individuals.
The most heavily affected area is the province of Capiz, with 19,494 affected families, followed by Aklan (6,843), Iloilo (5,914), and Aurora (4,803)
Around 3,778 families, or 12,550 individuals, have sought temporary shelter in 237 centers across Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Bicol Region, and Western Visayas, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday.
Some 2,719 families, or nearly 10,000 individuals, have sought temporary shelter with their relatives or friends instead.
In the help of the affected families, the DSWD said that over P5.4 million worth of humanitarian assistance has already been provided to those affected by Fengshen.
“The DSWD continues to distribute assistance to those affected by Tropical Storm Ramil, especially in Western Visayas, where the damage was extensive,” Irene B. Dumlao, spokesperson of DSWD, said in a statement in Tagalog.
“The assistance distributed by the agency includes boxes of family food packs (FFPs) for affected families and ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) at ports,” she added.
Ms. Dumlao said that the largest amount of assistance was distributed in Western Visayas, the region most affected, with over P3 million worth of food and non-food items, followed by Central Luzon and the Bicol Region, where more than P1 million worth of aid was distributed.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Palace said on Monday that the DSWD is ensuring sufficient relief supplies for residents affected by the recent earthquake and Tropical Storm Fengshen.
It noted that more than two million FFPs and P720,000 worth of assistance have already been prepared to provide relief to areas affected by the storm.
“This is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure that no Filipino goes hungry during times of disaster,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire A. Castro said in a palace briefing on Monday in Tagalog.
Ms. Castro said that the DSWD has also set aside more than P169 million in standby funds to sustain ongoing disaster response efforts. — Edg Adrian A. Eva