Several motorists in San Felipe, Zambales, were left with no choice but to push their vehicles in gutter-deep flood water brought by Severe Tropical Storm Florita | PHOTO: Zambales for the People/Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — There were no reported casualties in the country due to Severe Tropical Storm Florita, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo said Wednesday.
Tulfo said there were no casualty reports from the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), regional offices of the DSWD, and local government units.
“Walang casualty tayo. Sa awa ng Panginoong Diyos, walang namatay, walang nasaktan. May mga na-displace lang po pero walang nasaktan dito kay Florita kaya we have to be thankful,” Tulfo said in a press briefing.
(We have no reported casualty. Thank God no one died. Some were displaced, but no one was hurt due to Florita so we have to be thankful.)
DSWD Undersecretary for Disaster Management and Response Marco Bautista said 2,213 families—or 7,616 persons—were displaced due to Florita in Regions 1, 2, 3, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and the National Capital Region due to Florita.
A total of over P1.13 billion has been distributed to the typhoon-affected families, said Bautista.
He added that food packs and hygiene kits were also distributed in evacuation centers.
As of 5 a.m., the center of Florita’s eye was located 335 kilometers west of Calayan, Cagayan, with maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (km/h) near the center and gustiness of up to 115 km/h.