Close to 3,000 families still in evacuation centers in San Mateo, Rodriguez —official

Close to 3,000 families were still in evacuation centers in Rodriguez and San Mateo, two areas in Rizal province that were severely affected by Typhoon Ulysses, a disaster official said Friday.

Interviewed on Unang Hirit, Dong Malonzo of Rizal Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office said 2,500 of these families were from Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) while 1,200 were from San Mateo.

The numbers, Malonzo said, do not include those families staying in friends and relatives after their homes were damaged by the typhoon.

Owing to improved weather, Malonzo said some evacuees were allowed to return to their homes on Thursday afternoon.

"Kahapon ng hapon may mga pinayagan nang bumalik [ng bahay], ito yung mga nasa mataas na bahagi yung lugar nila," he said.

Malonzo also said all those asking to be rescued during the height of Ulysses' onslaught had been attended to based on reports from the ground.

Delays, he said, were caused by floodwaters in San Mateo.

"Yung outside rescue teams, umiikot pa kasi sila sa Commonwealth [Avenue in Quezon City], pagdating sa San Mateo ay mataas ang tubig," he said.

Outside rescue teams, according to Malonzo, came from the military, the police, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, among others. --KBK, GMA News