The Local Government Unit of Northern Samar placed the province of Northern Samar under a state of calamity on Tuesday due to heavy rains.
An estimated 74,500 families or 370,000 individuals are severely affected by the nonstop rains and widespread floods in the province.
“With the authority granted by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, I hereby declare the entire Province of Northern Samar to be in a State of Calamity. This declaration is in response to the severe impact of heavy rainfall, resulting floods, and extensive damage to infrastructure and crops,” Governor Edwin Ongchuan said in a statement.
On Wednesday, November 23, all classes in all levels from public to private schools were suspended, declared by the Provincial Local Government Unit.
Operations are halted in all government offices, except disaster response, health and public safety related agencies. Additionally, suspension applies to private businesses, excluding those in banking, finance, health and food supply sectors.
A total of 5,617 families or 27,498 individuals were affected by the flood and are currently seeking temporary shelters in evacuation centers. This number of flood victims are expected to increase as rescue operations continue in several areas like Catarman, Palapag, and Lope de Vega.
Meanwhile, several national roads are not passable due to the flooding this includes the portion of Catarman-Laoang road in the municipality of San Roque, and portion of the Pangpang-Palapag-Mapanas-Gamay-Lapinig road in the town of Palapag.
Leave a Reply