Iloilo City – As Filipinos are set to welcome the New Year, at least 45,361 people in Panay Island remain homeless due to typhoon “Ursula”.
The Western Visayas Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) reported Monday morning that the 45,361 are still taking shelter in evacuation centers as their homes in Capiz and Iloilo provinces were badly damaged by Ursula.
Capiz province has the most number of displaced with 37,767 persons. This is mainly due to the flooding in majority of the towns. On the other hand, Iloilo province had 6,322 displaced people.
Consolidated data also found that Ursula damaged a total of 111,266 houses in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo provinces. Of which, 77,461 homes were totally damaged while 35,805 homes partially damaged.
Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) personally went to Capiz province Sunday to inspect the damages while bringing aid from Metro Manila, including 800 emergency shelter kits and 220 repair kits.
Capiz Governor Esteban Evan Contreras said the emergency shelter kits and repair kits are being distributed to priority areas, especially to coastal barangays. (Tara Yap)