DSWD: 79% of families affected by 'Pedring' return home

Nearly 80 percent of the families forced to leave their homes by Typhoon Pedring (Nesat) have gone home, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said Saturday. The DSWD said that as of 6 a.m. Saturday, 175,343 or 79 percent of the 221,195 families who sought refuge with friends or kin returned to their homes. Only 99 evacuation centers are open, serving 7,664 families, it said in an article on its website. It added 69 of the total evacuation centers are in Central Luzon serving 4,821 families, even as 45,761 families outside evacuation centers are still getting relief assistance. The DSWD said the total assistance to victims of Pedring has reached P111.026 million. The relief assistance includes:

- family packs - rice - canned goods - mats - jugs - clothes - blankets

From September 30 to October 7, the DSWD had sent 65,100 family packs to Region III, which was the hardest hit region. DSWD social workers also continue to provide critical incident stress debriefing to the typhoon victims as well as assist in managing the remaining evacuation centers. — LBG, GMA News