23,000 Filipino families affected by Tembin will extend stay in evacuation centers till new year

Tropical storm Tembin or Vinta
Tropical storm Tembin or Vinta approaching Southern Philippines NASA GODDARD MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM

The effect of tropical storm Tembin has long-term and quite destructive.

While the tropical storm, locally known Vinta, has already left the Southern Philippines, an estimated 23,755 families or 111,641 victims in different parts of the Philippines will extend their stay in evacuation centers after their houses were turned into debris, leaving these victims homeless.

Aside from these numbers, a number of the homeless storm victims have also sought refuge in their relatives' houses. The three-day tropical storm left 230 dead and thousands injured despite the government's announcement that they were prepared to minimize casualties in their communities.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he already instructed concerned government agencies to help restore normalcy in areas hit by the killer storm.

Duterte flew to Tubod Municipality in the province Lanao del Norte to preside over a meeting with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council where he ordered concerned agencies to rehabilitate the agriculture communities.

Lanao del Norte Province has recorded the biggest number of human lives lost due to Tembin.

"The rule in crisis management is to return as soon as possible to normalcy," Duterte was quoted by Philippine media.

Duterte also ordered Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Pinol and Public Work Minister Mark Villar to visit affected areas and determine the kind of assistance the national government could provide.

Earlier, Duterte also turned over the 500 units of houses to civilians whose houses were damaged by the armed conflict between ISIS-inspired fighters and Philippine military.

Meanwhile, the United Nations also has extended assistance to victims of storm Tembin. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres publicly announced that aside from their readiness to support the emergency operations in Mindanao, he hopes the injured have a speedy recovery.

Initially, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs supported the setting up of 151 evacuation centers to house victims of the ravaging storm.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Welfare has recruited hundreds of volunteers to help in the repacking of food items that were distributed in evacuation centers. The tropical storm has also caused floods and mudslides that devastated communities in Mindanao regions.

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