Palace orders continuous monitoring of storm
President Marcos ordered agencies to keep monitoring the weather condition and delivering provisions to more than 1 million people displaced by Supertyphoon “Uwan” (international name: Fung-wong), a Malacañang official said on Monday.
On Tuesday government work resumes but classes at all levels in all provinces in Luzon and Visayas remain suspended.
“The President also reminded all concerned agencies to continue rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by Typhoon ‘Tino’ (Kalmaegi) and damaged by Supertyphoon ‘Uwan,’” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a message to reporters.
The President issued the directive during a briefing with officials of various agencies at the Presidential Security Command Center in Malacañang on Monday morning, she said.
Uwan triggered floods and landslides and left eight people dead.
Medical teams, shelters
It weakened from a supertyphoon into a typhoon early on Monday as it headed northwest toward Taiwan.
Uwan blew in a few days after Tino left at least 224 dead in central Philippines last Tuesday.
Of the at least 1.2 million people displaced across 11 regions, 100,050 families were in emergency shelters in the Bicol region, including 44,000 families in Camarines Sur province, the biggest number of evacuees in a single region.
Bicol also comprises the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.
Meanwhile, 20,000 families were in similar shelters in Region 4A ,or Calabarzon.
Castro said the President also instructed Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to ensure that sufficient medical teams are on standby at all evacuation centers.
Communication lines
Overall telecommunications network availability stood at 71 percent on Monday, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
Communication lines were still down in some 20 cities and towns in the Bicol region as of Monday.
Several countries, including the United States, Japan, Singapore, India, and Timor-Leste, have offered humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Castro said, citing reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
