NDRRMC: 1,075 'Sendong' survivors undergo psycho-social counseling

At least 1,075 survivors of tropical storm "Sendong" (Washi) have undergone psycho-social processing in evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro City. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Sunday the Department of Social Welfare and Development is conducting the processing. In its 8 a.m. Sunday update, the NDRRMC said a three-day training on psycho-social support interventions is ongoing for social workers in Iligan City. Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities are the areas hit hardest by Sendong, which devastated parts of Mindanao and Visayas in mid-December. As of Sunday, the NDRRMC said Sendong had affected 120,233 families or 1,141,252 people in 815 villages in 75 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces. Of these, 5,668 families or 26,473 people are in 56 evacuation centers. At least one evacuee had already committed suicide. The death toll remained at 1,257 while 6,063 were injured and 181 are still missing. Damage to property was estimated at P1,455,725,723.40 including P1,142,893,824.40 in infrastructure and P312,831,899 in agriculture. — LBG, GMA News