DSWD on Alert for First Weather Disturbance this Year

The Field offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) along the path of Tropical Depression Auring are now on alert status to monitor the occurrence of this first weather disturbance in the country this year.

Based on the predictive analytics for humanitarian response of the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), some 976,704 families or 4,883,546 persons are exposed to areas that are highly to very highly susceptible to landslide or flooding in Regions Caraga, X, VIII, VII, NIR, XII, ARMM, XI, and VI of which, 420,456 families are poor.

DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo urged these families in the danger zones to be aware of announcements from their local authorities, especially the call for evacuation, for their own safety. “Once again, preparation is the key to everyone’s safety in times of emergencies. Please do not ignore the announcements of your local authorities,” Sec. Taguiwalo reminded families along the path of ‘Auring’.

In CARAGA region where the center of Tropical Depression Auring was estimated to be at 125 km East Southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, the DSWD-Field Office here had activated its Quick Response Team (QRT) and is already in close coordination with the Local Social Welfare Office and the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (LDRRMO). As part of the agency’s preparation, DSWD-Caraga already prepositioned 6,100 Family Food Packs to geographically hard to reach areas.

Each family pack contains six (6) kilos of rice, eight (8) canned goods, and six (6) 3-in-1 coffee. The Regional Warehouse has a continuous repacking activity for additional stockpiling of food packs. Currently, there are 3,594 standby Family Food Packs.

To date, a total of 402 families or 1,699 persons from the region have been displaced who are all currently staying in 12 evacuation centers set up by the local government units. Likewise, some 361 passengers have been stranded at Lipata Ferry Terminal, Surigao City. Status of prepositioned resources: Standby funds and stockpiles Overall, the Central Office (CO), Field Offices (FOs), and National Resource Operations Center (NROC) have a total standby funds and stockpiles amounting to ₱895,310,371.01 that can be used for disaster operations, broken down as follows: a. Standby Funds ₱132,135,253.58 standby funds at the CO and FOs.

Of the said amount, ₱82,062,439.85 is the available Quick Response Fund at the CO. b. Stockpiles 559,392 Family Food Packs (FFPs) amounting to ₱198,263,790.72 and available Food and Non-Food Items (FNFIs) amounting to ₱564,911,326.71. (DSWD)