Typhoon Hagupit hits Philippines:

Over 1m in shelters

13 Dec MIS News

More than one million people are still in evacuation centers in the Philippines following Typhoon Hagupit.

On Wednesday, Philippine rescue officials and aid workers were delivering supplies to over one million people affected by the natural disaster.

Secretary of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development, Corazon Soliman, said approximately 1.3 million individuals, in 325,463 families, were still staying in 5,890 evacuation centers.

The department supplied Eastern Samar, the most damaged province, by establishing a hub for relief goods at the government’s rice warehouse.

“Now the real work begins,” said Carin van der Hor, the Philippines country director for children’s aid organization, Plan International.

On December 6, Typhoon Hagupit destroyed or damaged around 43,000 houses, caused landslide, took out crops, roads and power supplies.

The death toll by the typhoon has increased to nearly 28 people as one official said.

According to the Philippine Red Cross secretary-general, Gwendolyn Pang, the decrease in death toll in comparison with previous years was due to the massive and timely evacuation process this year.

In a television interview Pang said, “It means people have really prepared for the calamity so we have a low casualty rate even if the typhoon was strong. It is a good sign that people are learning.”Colonel Resituto Padilla, a Philippine military spokesman, said two C130 military transport aircraft were deployed by the government to transport relief goods, construction materials and personnel to typhoon-stricken areas.Statistics show that the Philippines is struck by more than 20 typhoons each year.