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Samar casualties, damage rise


TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The death toll from flash floods in the Samar provinces increased to six Wednesday. This as local officials raised concern over the lack of food for thousands of affected families stranded in 13 villages in Oras town, Eastern Samar province. Office of the Civil Defense Regional Director Angel Gaviola said the National Disaster Coordinating Council would give a P10,000 financial assistance to each of the victims’ families. Mr. Gaviola said the local government unit of Oras noted that around 3,000 families in 13 remote villages have been without food for five days now. "[Oras] Mayor Neil Alvarez has sent a team [Tuesday] to check the situation of these 13 barangays surrounded by the river. As the floodwater rises, residents have nothing to do but to find shelter without any food," Mr. Gaviola told BusinessWorld. Mr. Alvarez said in a separate interview that a team from the mayor’s office has not returned from the affected barangays to assess the situation. "It’s really hard to get to these 13 river barangays because of the strong current," the mayor said. He said the residents have been forced to set up camp in the hills since the schoolbuildings and village halls were also inundated. "I’ve been asking for help. Our calamity fund is only P40,000. It’s been depleted since we were hit by natural calamities last February and August," Mr. Alvarez said. Mr. Gaviola said they expect more reports of displaced families and damaged properties from the towns of Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces as communication lines are restored. As of yesterday, at least 5,507 families or 22,658 individuals were affected by floods in Northern Samar and Eastern Samar. — Sarwell Q. Meniano, BusinessWorld
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