DAVAO City –As augmentation to the relief assistance provided by the local government units in Davao Oriental and Davao Del Norte, some 23,373 family food packs have already been released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the victims of flashfloods.

This is in response to the request of the two provincial governments following the flashfloods brought by the continuous rains since Thursday.

To date, the province of Compostela Valley has requested for 350 cases of noodles to complement its prepositioned relief goods.

Earlier, DSWD conducted rapid assessment in Davao Oriental, Davao Del Norte and Compostela Valley while rescue operations were undertaken by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) and volunteer groups.

DSWD learned that barangay, municipal and provincial governments in affected communities in Compostela Valley, Davao Del Norte and Davao Del Sur have initially provided relief goods to affected families.

According to Assistant Regional Director Mila T. Segovia of DSWD, 10,000 family food packs are being prepositioned by DSWD at the Interagency Disaster Operations Center at DPWH Depot, Panacan.

The regional office here aims to repack 10,000 food packs daily to meet the requirements of affected families of the recent flashfloods, Segovia said.

Segovia stressed that DSWD has also mobilized its Social Welfare and Development Teams in each province and activated its Disaster Quick Response Team at the regional office to promptly respond to disaster operations.

Further, DSWD is looking into providing non-food items like cooking pots, kitchen utensils, pails, blankets, mosquito nets, plates, among others to the affected families.

DSWD reports show that to date, a total of 16,615 families were affected composed of 82,686 individuals. Damaged houses totalled to 216 with 9 persons dead.

Among the damaged infrastructures are dikes and bridges while some roads were rendered impassable due to landslides. (DSWD)