Rapid assessment and needs analysis teams have been sent to quake-ravaged areas in Mindanao as the government scrambles to extend assistance to hundreds of families rendered homeless due to the 6.3-magnitude quake on Wednesday night.
Mark Timbal, spokesman of the Office of Civil Defense, said the teams came from their regional offices and are expected to come up with the result within this week.
“The results of the assessment will serve as the basis for the kinds of assistance that would immediately be extended to the victims,” Timbal said.
He explained that each of the family affected may have different needs and the assessment will provide the exact needs of the victims.
Timbal said the result of the assessment will also serve as an initial basis on the cost of funding that would be provided by the national government.
A total of 1,360 houses were reported damaged in Southern Mindanao, Central Mindanao and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 329 of them were totally damaged.
Also damaged were total of 269 classrooms along with 21 health facilities and other structures which include a mall that was engulfed by fire.
Timbal said that 1,653 families were also affected in Southern Mindanao and Central Mindanao regions.
The death toll remains at six dead with 93 others injured.
Timbal said that as part of the initial relief assistance, the OCD Southern Mindanao has released temporary shelters for displaced residents of Magsaysay in Davao del Sur wherein at least three people died while 21 others were missing due to landslide.
“This is in response to the initial assessment that houses were buried in a landslide there,” said Timbal.
The temporary shelters will be distributed to affected families.
Meanwhile, Timbal said that the National Housing Authority will also release funds this week to help local residents rebuild their homes.
Timbal said that a post-disaster assessment will still have to be conducted before any rehabilitation is started in quake-affected areas.
“So far, our focus is on the immediate needs of the victims like food, water, medicine and others,” said Timbal.
The start of the rehabilitation depends on how fast all the assessments would be finished. (Aaron Recuenco)
