Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered its Central Visayas Office to deploy personnel and equipment necessary to conduct clearing operations in roads badly affected by Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi).
Dizon issued this directive after visiting Cebu City on Wednesday. He said that the agency is ready to provide the assistance needed for clearing and declogging operations in flooded areas.
‘The President said that we should provide whatever the mayors need. We will provide everything. I said that at their disposal of all equipment here in Cebu,’ Dizon said. ‘The DPWH will give whatever a district needs,’ Dizon added.
Dizon also shared that declogging operations have already begun in several areas to clean drainages covered with mud.
According to the 12 p.m. report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Office on Thursday, a total of 587,550 families or 2,100,905 persons across eight regions in the country have been affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Tino. Of this figure, Western Visayas was the most affected region with 233,694 families (233,694 individuals) affected. It was followed by the Caraga region with 114,333 families (422,545 individuals) and Eastern Visayas with 101,105 families (359,884 individuals) affected.
Meanwhile, Office of the Civil Defense Deputy Spokesperson Diego Mariano on Thursday said that the reported death toll from the typhoon climbed to 114, where most of the reported fatalities came from Cebu province at 71. It was followed by Negros Occidental (18), Negros Oriental (12), Agusan del Sur (6), and Southern Leyte (2).