86,000 'Ruby' victims will celebrate Christmas in evac centers

MANILA, Philippines - Less than a week before Christmas, more than 86,000 persons affected by typhoon "Ruby" (international name: “Hagupit”) are still inside evacuation centers.

A total of 86,474 individuals or 16,876 families are still staying in 327 evacuation centers in nine regions, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The displaced residents were from Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga.

“Many of them may spend the holidays inside the evacuation centers especially those whose homes have been destroyed,” NDRRMC spokesperson Mina Marasigan said in a phone interview yesterday.

“The DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) will give them something to eat during the holidays,” she added.

“Ruby,” which hit southern Luzon and Visayas early this month, damaged 290,670 houses, forcing thousands of residents to seek refuge in evacuation centers and in the homes of their relatives.

About 4.15 million persons or more than 944,000 families have been affected by the typhoon, which triggered one of the biggest peacetime evacuations in the world.

The typhoon left 18 people dead and 916 others injured and damaged more than P5-billion worth of agriculture infrastructure.

The DSWD, the local governments, humanitarian groups and private donors have so far provided P248.61-million worth of assistance to the residents.

Meanwhile, residents in three Visayas provinces might celebrate a dark Christmas if the power outage caused by “Ruby” is left unsolved.

The NDRRMC said power has been restored in areas hit by the typhoon except Western Samar, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar.

The Energy department has vowed to restore electricity in these provinces before Christmas.