KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/12 November) — The city government has launched a year-round relief campaign for victims of various disasters that hit the country, including the super typhoon “Yolanda” last Friday that devastated parts of the Visayas area and nearby regions.
Cyrus Urbano, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) action officer said Tuesday they have opened an operations center at the city hall building to facilitate the gathering of relief donations for the disaster victims.
Aware of the fact that typhoons are recurring natural calamities in the country, he said the council decided to make the relief campaign “a year-round initiative.”
“Even in the absence of disasters, the council will welcome non-perishable donations anytime so that relief goods are available for immediate distribution during crisis situation,” said Urbano, who is also the city administrator.
The official rallied residents to send relief donations to help the victims of super typhoon Yolanda, specifically those situated in Tacloban City and the neighboring areas.
He said donations or contributions may be delivered to the donation desk set up at the city hall lobby or local government personnel may pick them up through an arrangement with the CDRRMC office.
“In the light of the current situation, the CDRRMC is once again accepting donations of any kind like food, water, clothes, home items and even cash for the typhoon-affected communities in the Visayas region,” he said.
Based on an assessment of the needs of the affected residents, the city government cited in an advisory that it prefers items such as drinking water, rice, canned goods, personal care products (soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc.), home items (blanket, towels, eating utensils), medicine and clothes in good or usable condition.
“Your donations will go a long way in helping these victims sustain and rebuild their lives,” it said.
Meantime, the CDRRMC advised local residents to remain alert and be prepared in the wake of the continuous rains in the area since early Tuesday due to typhoon Zoraida.
Public storm warning signal number 1 has been raised as of Tuesday morning in 17 of 26 provinces in Mindanao due to the weather disturbance.
South Cotabato province, which covers this city, was not included in the storm warning but the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration station here noted that the passing typhoon might trigger moderate to heavy rains in the area.
Last Oct. 28, parts of this city experienced severe floods as a result of continuous heavy rains spawned by a low pressure area then.
The CDRRMC said some 21 families lost their homes in a flashflood that ravaged a community situated near a critical creek in the area.
The local government has already released food and shelter assistance to the affected residents, who were advised by the council to relocate to safer areas. (MindaNews)
