TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (PIA) - - Families affected by super typhoon 'Egay' received various assistance from the different government instrumentalities following the visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to the Cagayan Valley region on Saturday, July 29. 

In the report of the Cagayan Valley Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, there were 38,947 families with 132,177 individuals affected by the super typhoon in the whole region. 

The towns of Sanchez Mira, Abulug, Santa Praxedes and Calayan are now under a state of calamity, especially those suffering from damaging floods and landslides.

Regional Director Leon DG. Rafael of the Office of Civil Defense Region 2 said there were 13, 232 damaged houses in the region, of which 553 were assessed as totally damaged and 12, 679 as partially damaged. 

He also said the region incurred over P1.4 billion estimated cost of loss including the P1.04 billion estimated loss on agriculture and P483 million worth of damages on infrastructures. 

Rafael also said OCD distributed modular tents, hygiene kits, portable stoves, family packs, shelter repair kits, and other necessities to some of the affected communities. 

No casualty recorded as of press time, however, the four rescuers from the Philippine Coast Guard remain missing while the seven individuals who were reported missing earlier were found alive in Aparri, Cagayan. 

Search and rescue teams have been deployed for the missing Coast Guard rescuers who were reported missing since July 26 in an attempt to rescue missing individuals in Abulug town at the onslaught of a flash flood.

On the part of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 2, Regional Director Lucia S. Alan said they provided food and non-food items to the affected families with a total cost of P14.6 million. 

"We also extended P4.8 million worth of financial assistance through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program. This assistance is given to those severely affected like those who suffered from severe flooding, with totally damaged houses, and those who lost their livelihood because of the typhoon," Alan said. 

The Department of Agriculture Region 2 also distributed corn and vegetable seeds to farmers.

Technical teams from DA 2 are now on the field to further assess damages to crops following the order of President Marcos to immediately submit to his office a damage report for immediate intervention to help affected farmers recover immediately from their losses. (OTB/PIA 2)