Psychiatrists sent to Negros to help debrief flood victims

The Department of Health (DOH) 7 sent a team of psychiatrists and psychologists to Negros Oriental to provide psychosocial debriefing for survivors of  Typhoon Sendong.

“Many people were traumatized by the incident. They need someone to talk to who will also listen to them,” DOH-7 Director Susana Madarieta said.
The team left last Monday.

DOH will also be taking water samples from affected  communities in Negros Oriental to check  potability of the water to avoid a diarrhea outbreak.

“So far there is no report of an outbreak, but we have to take the necessary precautions,” Madarieta said

Supplies of antibiotics and oral rehydration fluid were also sent  to Negros. Residents were also instructed to boil their drinking water.

DOH-7 will also be sending a team to Cagayan de Oro to assist in identifying the cadavers and locating missing persons.

An action center will be set up to receive relatives who will need assistance in looking for their missing their loved ones and identifying the bodies.

Cities  of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro received P5 million each from Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday.

Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz and Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Vicente Emano received the checks from Garcia.

They also received checks from Cebu’s town mayors who  contributed  P1.1 million and another P10,000 from the Cebu Provincial Health Office.

The amount from Cebu province is the biggest contribution so far, according to both local chief executives.

Garcia led the distribution of dry goods to  evacuees in the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) gym.

Youth volunteers also set up a projector and played children’s shows to entertain kids in the center.

Outside the evacuation centers, some families set up makeshift shelters out of their wrecked houses using  logs that hit and destroyed their houses during the flash flood.

They placed donation boxes in front.

Mayor Cruz asked Governor Garcia if they could borrow more heavy equipment from Cebu province as they still have other areas that needed to be cleared.

Cebu provincial engineer Eulogio Pelayre said they have equipment ready for transport.

Meanwhile, the Capitol Association of Reporters in Tri-Media (CART) also turned over their cash donations.

The family of two radiomen, Michael Kundiman of DXRJ and Enne Alsonado of DXCC, Radio Mindanao Network who died died during the typhoon will receive P3,000 each.

This will be on top of the P10,000 that the Iligan city government gives to each family of those who died during the typhoon. The Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ) also turned over P13,000 to colleagues in Cagayan de Oro.

Meanwhile, the  United Korean Community Association in Cebu raised P1.5 million for the victims of Typhoon Sendong said Ken Choi, president.

Charlie Shin, vice president, said the were told by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 that victims need more kitchen ware, mats and blankets.

“We will purchase the items here and  distribute them  personally to the victims in a particular area as we  have a limited budget. We will be packing items for P700 to P1,000 per family,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma asked  clergy members to also help the flood  victims of flood in Metro Cebu.

He made the appeal during the annual Christmas party for priests in the archdiocese held at the Mariner’s Court in Cebu City yesterday.

He said parishes may hold second collections during Masses to assist flood victims. /Candeze R. Mongaya and Carmel Loise Matus with reports from Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol and Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza