An additional 34,249 family food packs (FFPs) were dispatched to areas in Agusan del Sur severely affected by flooding and landslides due to heavy rains caused by the low-pressure area’s trough since last week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Caraga Region (DSWD-13) said Monday.

In a statement, the agency said 23,855 FFPs were transported over the weekend to the Agusan del Sur towns of Veruela, Sta. Josefa, Rosario, and San Luis.

An additional 10,394 FFPs were also sent to the same province on Sunday, delivered to the towns of Trento, Loreto, Talacogon, and Esperanza. On the same day, the DSWD-13 facilitated the distribution of 841 FFPs to the affected residents of San Luis, Rosario, and Sta. Josefa.

Police disaster response

Meanwhile, the Police Regional Office-13 said it will deploy at least 629 personnel from the Reactionary Standby Support Force and Search and Rescue Units in this city and Agusan del Sur province.

“Ahead of the possible heavy rainfall this week, all PRO-13 units were directed to preposition disaster response personnel, equipment, and resources, especially those in flood-prone areas,” PRO-13 director, Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft, said in a statement Monday.

Based on PEO-13 data, Kraft said at least 12,803 individuals are now staying in 47 evacuation centers in Agusan del Sur.

Forced evacuation

This developed as the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office in Butuan City said it has imposed, since Sunday evening, forced evacuations in barangays situated along the banks of the Agusan River.

As of Sunday evening, the water level in Agusan River had reached the red alert level and started to flood nearby communities.

“As the water level continuously rises due to the volume of water from the southern part of Mindanao and Butuan City as the catch basin, we imposed forced evacuation to all barangays situated along the river banks,” the CDRRMO Butuan said. (PNA)