TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that more than 5,000 families were affected when typhoon “Glenda” hit Eastern Visayas last week.

Vina Aquino, regional information officer of the DSWD-8, said that these families were assisted by their office during the typhoon. She said that at least nine towns, to include Tacloban City, were considered to have been most affected by Glenda, the strongest typhoon to hit Eastern Visayas after it was pummeled by supertyphoon Yolanda eight months ago.

Aquino said that based on their records, as of July 16, 2014, there were 5,337 families who stayed at the evacuation centers identified by the local government units
The most affected town in the region in terms of number of families affected was Calbiga in Samar with 1,299 displaced families; Catarman, Northern Samar, 1,053 families and the city of Tacloban, 997 families.

There were 181 totally damaged houses and 44 partially damaged houses in the whole region and the most affected town was San Policarpio in Eastern Samar which has 96 totally damaged houses while the town of Jiabong, Samar has 85 totally damaged houses due to Glenda, said Aquino. There were 2,000 food packs that were delivered to Northern Samar which was the most affected area in the region while the city government of Tacloban gave 500 food packs, 2,500 bottled water and 500 blankets for those who stayed at the evacuation centers like the astrodome. (AIRYLL A. YAPOC- LNU-Intern)