As of yesterday, only 106 evacuation centers managed by local government units (LGUs) in Regions I, III, and CAR remain open, temporarily housing 5,805 families or 25,443 persons affected by Typhoon Lando.
At the height of Lando, close to 900 evacuation centers were opened to accommodate affected families.
DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said the decreasing number of existing evacuation centers is a good indication that evacuees are now moving towards recovery.
The Secretary added that with this development, the department is now transitioning from the relief operations phase to the recovery phase, and will eventually move onto the rehabilitation phase.
The teams that conducted the Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) for affected families by Typhoon Lando in Aurora and Nueva Ecija recommended the continued delivery of food and non-food items.
For the Lando-affected areas to fully recover, the teams also recommended the delivery of repair kits for damaged houses, repair of school buildings and furniture, replacement of damaged books and school supplies to children, and conduct of clean-up drives in flooded areas, which can be done through food-for-work or cash-for-work program.
The teams also proposed that to ensure the safety of evacuees in times of disasters, the construction of permanent disaster resilient evacuation centers should be undertaken.
Meanwhile, members of the Task Force Ground Zero based in Casiguran, Aurora, continue to reinforce LGUs in disaster operations.
A workshop on Food Security through Gap Analysis and Early Recovery Planning was held for the local social welfare and development officers, and agricultural officers.
The United Nations-Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) conducted an orientation on Information Management with the National Disaster Response representatives, while the Logistics Team updated the stock card inventory to properly account the goods in the warehouse.
The Department of Education in Aurora Province instructed all schools to conduct psychosocial debriefing of students when classes resume on November 2. (DSWD)