Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 5) — Some ₱409 million is needed to repair and reconstruct schools in Mindanao damaged due to the shear line and low pressure area (LPA), the Department of Education (DepEd) said Thursday.
DepEd reported that 42 schools sustained damage as of Wednesday morning, including 30 in Northern Mindanao, 11 in Caraga, and one in the Zamboanga peninsula.
The agency also said seven schools are still being used as evacuation centers. Five of them are in Oroquieta City in Misamis Occidental while the remaining two are in Siargao and Surigao del Norte.
Disaster response officials said 52 people died and 18 others remain missing due to the intense rains and floods triggered by the shear line and the LPA that followed.
Over 681,000 people comprising nearly 171,000 families were affected by the deluge, with more than 23,000 persons still in evacuation centers as of Thursday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported.
In Mindanao, around 110,000 families were affected, the council’s latest report showed.
Meanwhile, the agency pegged the cost of damage to infrastructure in affected regions at over ₱268 million. More than 5,000 houses were also damaged at a cost of more than ₱101 million.
CNN Philippines correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report.
