By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
After Super Typhoon Uwan (international name: Fung-Wong) brought torrential rains and strong winds to Luzon overnight, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assessed the damages brought by the storm at a situation briefing held in the Presidential Security Command (PSC) Command Operations Center on Monday morning.
After gathering updates from officials of regional disaster and risk management centers in areas ravaged by Uwan, Marcos ordered all government agencies to spearhead nonstop relief and rehabilitation efforts vis-à-vis medical deployment and clearing operations.
He also ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH) to look after the condition of evacuees taking refuge at evacuation sites, instructing the agencies to provide displaced residents with adequate provisions as they wait for floods to recede and landslides to be cleared by authorities.
According to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the following areas had the most number of families evacuated through preemptive measures:
- Pangasinan (426,000 families)
- Bicol Region (100,050 families)
- Quezon Province (20,000 families)
The President, moreover, directed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon to expedite the clearing and rehabilitation of damaged roads to restore connectivity to areas affected by the storm.
As of press time, 71 roads in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Central Luzon remain impassable due to floods or landslides.
The OCD, meanwhile, noted four casualties in the wake of Uwan’s onslaught—two of them were still under validation, while no missing persons have been confirmed.
Marcos concluded his remarks at the briefing by directing concerned agencies to continue monitoring round-the-clock weather developments and simultaneously sustain efforts in locales devastated by Typhoon Tino last week.
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