Xavier University has started to help resettle survivors of Tropical Storm Washi (Sendong). Thousands were rendered homeless by the flash floods that wiped out parts of Cagayan de Oro City in Southern Philippines on December 16 and 17, 2011.
Following an order by President Benigno Aquino III prohibiting people from returning to the flood-prone Cagayan River deltas, the university has donated five hectares of land in the uptown village of Lumbia to serve as a permanent resettlement area for survivors. About 500 families displaced by the floods will be relocated to this site.
Xavier University has partnered with the local government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other government agencies, relief and rehabilitation organisations, and the private sector to fast track the rebuilding process. Work on the resettlement area began on December 30.
In the interim, canvas tents have been set up as temporary shelters for the families who now have to leave the evacuation centres but have no place to go home to.
Tropical Storm Washi is the worst natural disaster to have hit Cagayan de Oro and its neighbouring city of Iligan in recent history. It claimed more than a thousand lives and a thousand more are still missing. The damage is estimated at over US$20.5 million. There is much work to do to help the survivors rebuild their lives, and more volunteers are needed to facilitate the long and tedious process of rehabilitation.
Even with Xavier University’s project, thousands of families still need help in getting a safe place to live to as they begin moving from evacuation centres to temporary shelters, until they can move somewhere permanent.
On January 12, 2012, JRS launched an appeal for international aid to help survivors start to live more normal lives.
“While it’s good (at these evacuation centres) because they can get food from visiting groups, they have asked if they could be assisted in building temporary shelters,” said a village chief.
For US$300, a family will have all the supplies they need to build their own temporary shelter.
For Xavier University’s updates on the ground and information on how you can support its relief and rehabilitation efforts, go to tabangsendong.xu.edu.ph.
For more information on the JRS appeal, click here.