BUTUAN CITY –  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Caraga already activated its Quick Response Team (QRT) to monitor 24/7 the status of the communities in the whole region as  Tropical Depression (TD) Auring threatens to make landfall tomorrow, January 8, 2017, in the region as per information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA).

The QRT of the field office together with the provincial Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) teams were instructed to monitor the situation and closely coordinate with the Local Social Welfare and Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (LDRRMO).

As part of the agency’s preparation, DSWD-Caraga already prepositioned 6,100 Family Food Packs to geographically hard to reach areas. Each family pack contains six (6) kilos of rice, eight (8) canned goods, and six (6) 3-in-1 coffee.

The Regional Warehouse has a continuous repacking activity for additional stockpiling of food packs. Currently, there are 3,594 standby Family Food Packs.

DSWD Caraga OIC Regional Director Mita G. Lim assures the public that the field office is ready to augment resources to the affected Local Government Unit (LGU) anytime needed.

“Other than the family packs, we also have available non-food items amounting to Php 1, 216, 458.33 ready for augmentation to affected areas in the region,” Lim said.### (RYAN MALBAS TAPAYAN/Social Marketing Unit/DSWD Field Office Caraga)