Situated along the Oras river, the municipalities of Oras, Arteche and Jipapad in Eastern Samar are prone to flooding. Recently, these municipalities became the center of attention as typhoon Bising caused the river to overflow, bringing massive floods to these municipalities. In Jipapad, residents reported of how flood waters reached the second stories of buildings, and of how farmland areas were transformed into miniature lakes. As revealed by one respondent, “this area was once a farmland, but now, it looks like a fishpond.” Aside from damage to property and the risk to life, the flood also caused power and water interruptions. According to Jipapad mayor Benjamin Ver, “It’s all connected. Once it floods, the power goes out. When the power goes out, so does our signal, our internet and our water.”

On April 20, DSWD staff conducted an assessment on the needs of families affected by the flood in the surrounding areas. After receiving the LGUs’ request for augmentation and conducting the assessment, DSWD immediately dispatched Family Food Packs (FFPs) to these affected municipalities. Aside from transporting FFPs from the DSWD’s Regional Resource Operations Section (RROS) in Palo, Leyte, the agency was also able to respond quickly by using FFPs prepositioned in Eastern Samar State University campuses in Borongan City and Can-avid. Disaster Response Management Division OIC Orville Berino disclosed that “these prepositioned goods became critical in our response to the province of Eastern Samar.”

As of April 25, DSWD Eastern Visayas has released 2,500 FFPs for Arteche, 2,000 for Jipapad, 877 for Oras, 307 for Hernani, and 923 for Can-avid. DSWD has already released a total of 9,213 FFPs worth P5,011,227.09, not only for the province of Eastern Samar, but Northern Samar as well.

These figures are expected to rise as DSWD continues its relief operations.

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