As Tropical Storm Mario continues to batter Central Visayas and expanded its reach to Luzon including Metro Manila,   the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has recorded  94,747 families or 436,539 persons affected by the weather disturbance.

As of 10 am,  some 25 evacuation centers  are open providing temporary shelter to 1,276 families or 6,406 persons.

In the National Capital Region (NCR),  there are 16 evacuation centers of which ten are in  Quezon City serving 317 families or 1,583 persons, four in Manila housing 410 families or 2,050 persons, and  two in Marikina with 126 families or 630 persons.

In Rizal Province, four evacuation centers are operational serving 385 families or 1,925 persons.

In Central Visayas which experienced heavy rainfall since yesterday,  five evacuation centers remain open.

More evacuation centers will open as reports from local government units (LGUs) will come in.

DSWD-Field Offices along ‘Mario’s’ path are on alert status with standby funds amounting to P35 million for the purchase of emergency relief supplies.

Some 91,531 family packs are also prepositioned in these Field Offices ready to augment resources of affected LGUs.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that members of the Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) Teams continue to coordinate with LGUs  to determine the extent of the disaster and to identify other appropriate services needed by affected families. ###