The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Sunday said it is still verifying reports that three people were killed due to flooding as a result of heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Urduja especially in the Eastern Visayas region.
NDRRMC spokesperson Romina Marasigan made the response following a telephone interview.
She, however, confirmed that 19 people has so far been hurt due to vehicular accidents, fallling debris and landslide cause by Urduja.
“We are still awaiting confirmation or updates from the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) to determine if the deaths are related to Urduja,” Marasigan said.
Marasigan said one of the difficulties face by government is the delivery of relief goods to affected residents due to massive or widespread flooding in Eastern Visayas.
“So far its hard to make a conclusion because it’s still affecting areas of our country, but so far its affected significantly a number of areas especially Eastern Samar. Heavy rains also affected Leyte, Northern Samar, etc.,” added Marasigan.
Marasigan said it helped a lot that residents were receptive to warnings and followed pre-emptive evacuation.
“Based on our reports more than 20,000 evacuated and currently are in evacuation centers. Assistance is currently provided to them,” Marasigan said. (Francis T. Wakefield)
