At least 450,000 persons were affected due shear line, low pressure area in Eastern and Northern Samar,

the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Thursday.

It said a total of 453,157 persons were affected in Eastern Visayas, bringing overall tally in three

other regions to 721, 627. NDRRMC said 38, 696 persons were in evacuation centers in

Eastern Visayas.

One person has been reported dead in Eastern Visayas, NDRRMC said.

Northern Samar is under a state of calamity due to heavy floods.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was supposed to go to Catarman in Northern Samar

told a briefing in Tacloban that sewers in the affected areas were unable to cope with the

volume of floodwater.

''We have not experienced this kind of heavy rain over such a long period of time. Considering

there is no typhoon, considering that this is the new normal, this is the new weather that

we have to adjust to,'' he said.

He said the government will be sending water purification equipment in the flooded areas

to provide potable water to the 14, 260 families in the 37 affected municipalities in Samar.

Marcos added that the government will help the earthquake victims in General Santos and

in the Soccksagen and Davao regions. But he added rebuilding cannot start because of

aftershocks. DMS