SEEK SHELTER, SOLACE IN CHURCH
[PHOTO - Homeless survivors
seek shelter, solace in church By Bobby Lagsa, Ryan D.
Rosauro Inquirer Mindanao 1:53 am | Tuesday, December
20th,]
[MORE
GREAT PHOTOS BELOW FROM ILIGAN.ORG
SITE]
ILIGAN CITY, DECEMBER
21,
2011 (INQUIRER) By Bobby Lagsa, Ryan D. Rosauro Inquirer
Mindanao "Even if it's going to be difficult, we'll stay here," said a school
teacher who called herself Virginia at San Lorenzo Ruiz Church.
The woman refused to give her real name out of shame for losing her house in
Barangay (village) Hinaplanon when Tropical Storm "Sendong" struck at dawn
Saturday.
As the Philippine Daily Inquirer left, Virginia stretched her legs, her back
against the church's iron grills, and took a nap in a cramped space she shared
with her husband.
This is how most evacuees sleep in this church, which hosts some 200
families, or about 1,000 people, in its 1,000-square-meter hall. Because of
congestion, the evacuees sleep on the same spot where they sit.
Fr. Nasser Zaragosa, the parish priest, said the evacuees ran to the church
for shelter when Sendong hit the city over the weekend. Since Saturday, more and
more people have come to the church.
Zaragosa said his parish would continue to attend to the needs of evacuees
even if plans to transfer them to a nearby school pushed through.
Past noon Monday, when the Inquirer visited the church, most of the evacuees
had not taken their lunch yet.
Zaragosa said the rations came late. The priest, in an effort to lighten the
burden, cracked jokes with the evacuees.
[PHOTOS AT LEFT AND BELOW - ALL FROM ILIGAN.ORG - The site is basically
an online crisis center for Iligan City. This website was created after the
typhoon Sendong hits the City. In it a user can see crisis map, makes report
submission, online donation and find missing or dead persons. http://oneforiligan.com/ ...PHOTO IS At
Mahayahay area, in front of Iligan Capitol College.]
More than 10,000 families or 50,000 individuals in 15 other evacuation
centers were in the same situation.
CDO evacuees
In Cagayan de Oro City, officials said some 6,000 families or around 30,000
people were packed in six evacuation centers.
The City Central School gymnasium, where more than 10,000 people are staying,
stinks as toilets are without water and there's little ventilation.
Flood victims claimed they did not receive any warning to evacuate before the
storm struck.
Hardest hit were Sitio Kala-Kala in Barangay Macasandig, and Barangays 13 and
15 in Isla de Oro, a strip of land in the river accessible only by a hanging
bridge.
[PHOTO - God bless the military for the help. The building at the
background is Iligan Capitol College.]
Leizel Paalam, a resident of Barangay 13 said she and her family were at home
the whole day listening to radio stations for typhoon updates.
"All we knew was that there was a storm coming and it would hit Friday
night," she said.
Paalam said that several neighbors were monitoring other radio stations, and
that the only news they received was from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical
and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
No official warning
[PHOTO - San Lorenzo Ruiz church, makeshift as evacuation
center.]
She said no go- vernment official or employee went around the village to warn
residents, contrary to claims by Emil Rana, officer of the city's branch of the
Department of Interior and Local Government.
Rana said no less than former Mayor Tinnex Jaraula went out to the streets to
urge the people to evacuate.
Armin Cuenca, chief of the Oro Assistance for Life Emergencies and Rescue
Team, also claimed that they warned people of the approaching storm. He blamed
residents for their wait-and-see attitude.
Dennis Binolinao, also a resident of Isla de Oro, said they did not get any
warning from the government.
"It's a lie, they were not seen anywhere before the flood came," Binolinao
said.
Other residents from Isla de Oro shared the same sentiment: No warning came
from the government or from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council.
Local village watchmen sounded the alarm in Iligan, prompting residents to
flee while the water was still knee-deep. But residents said the flooding that
struck at dawn on Saturday was beyond their imagination. Flood waters rose
swiftly in minutes.
The interior of San Lorenzo Ruiz church, makeshift as
evacuation center.
MORE PHOTOS AT http://www.iligan.org/sendong-aftermath-photos/
PHNO THANKS ILIGAN.ORG BLOG FOR THE GREAT PHOTOS!
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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