Butuan City- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga is now preparing as Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) severe weather bulletin raised Signal No.1 to all the five (5) provinces in Caraga namely Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Province of Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur due to Tropical depression (TD) Onyok.

Early this morning, it was reported by PAGASA that TD Onyok is already in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and will make landfall tomorrow, December 18 in the region.

The Field Office has already installed monitoring screen inside the Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Operations Unit (DRRROU) office for more visible timely updates from PAGASA and the track of the storm.

A total of 14,486 family food packs amounting to Php6,059,783.52 are already prepositioned to the DSWD Warehouse in Brgy.Tiniwisan, Butuan City and the following Local Government Units (LGUs), readily available for augmentation: Loreto (PDI), Tubajon, Libjo, Burgos, Socorro, Pilar, Dapa, Tubay, Jabonga, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur.

Non-food items amounting to Php4,255,740.12 are also available anytime augmentation is needed by LGUs.

Today, the Regional Disaster Response Committee members convened at the DSWD-Caraga regional office here.

Provincial, Municipal, and City Action Teams (P/C/MATs) are alerted and are advised to monitor and submit updated real time reports on the status of affected areas in the region.

Quick Response Team (QRT) in the region is already activated and leaders conducted a meeting this afternoon to discuss preparations and actions in relation to TD Onyok. The team members are readying for 24/7 duty with three (3) shifts per day. ###(Social Marketing Unit/DSWD Field Office Caraga)