The United States government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAid), handed over 167 transitional shelters to benefit over 900 persons displaced by Tropical Storm Agaton in the municipality of Abuyog and the city of Baybay in Leyte on December 19.

USAid Mission Director Ryan Washburn and International Organization for Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission Tristan Burnett led the handover ceremony in Baybay City in the presence of Abuyog Vice Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya and Baybay City Councilor Romulo Alcala. Abuyog and Baybay were among the areas most heavily affected by Tropical Storm Agaton in April, resulting in more than 187 casualties and the loss of homes and livelihoods of over 16,700 families.