Tacloban evacuees face congestion, lack of food

CEBU, Philippines -  A day before the expected landfall of typhoon Ruby in Eastern Visayas, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez announced to the media that the city was ready, with residents already secured in evacuation centers.

Around 7,000 families are now housed at 28 evacuation centers that the city government had identified, a couple of which were already congested prompting evacuation personnel to reject other evacuees who arrived later yesterday.

The main problem, as of yesterday afternoon, was that there was no distribution of food packs yet to the evacuees from the city government. They said they have been sustaining themselves with food stocks they brought with them to the evacuation center.

In the Redemptorist Church, there were 255 families or about 1,100 people, while at the Eastern Visayas State University, about 450 families were housed. All of them were asking for food assistance from the city.

Yesterday morning, volunteers at the city social welfare office were seen busily packing food stuffs, numbering about 25,000, for the evacuees. The question raised then was that why these items were not yet distributed to them?

According to Ildebrando Bernadas, chair of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, they already started distributing food packs to evacuees in the northern barangays, but could not distribute these items simultaneously with the other areas.

Bernadas said there is sufficient stocks of food packs for the first wave of distribution, which is before typhoon Ruby strikes, and for the second wave during and after the typhoon.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, strong winds and rainshowers started pounding the city. Ninety-five percent of business establishments have stopped operations, but military and the police have positioned themselves at various strategic locations, especially in the commercial districts of the city, to avert possible looting, as what happened after Yolanda.

In terms of manpower and equipment for disaster response, the city government declared its readiness. Wi-fi connections however had slowed down, and only a few internet shops were opened yesterday. The DyVL radio station, which is located on the coastal area, closed yesterday noon.

Meanwhile, Mayor Mario Quijano of Pinabacdao town in Samar, said Marabut and Basey towns encountered problems on lack of evacuation areas because their schools remained unrestored after Yolanda. He said he had to take in evacuees from these places to his town. (FREEMAN)