RUNNING OUT OF COFFINS IN CAGAYAN DE ORO
[PHOTO COURTESY OF MANILA
BULLETIN - SURVIVING THE FLOOD Residents are trapped on the roof of a two-story
house in Cagayan de Oro City, awaiting rescue as rains from tropical storm
'Sendong' swelled rivers, caused flash floods, and killed scores in some parts
of Mindanao Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. (AP
Photo)]
MANILA, DECEMBER 18, 2011 (INQUIRER) Cely Asinero
and her family had to climb to the roof of the two-story house owned by her
brother because the floodwaters had reached about 30 feet deep in their area.
"It is the tallest house in the community, and we thought the flood would not
reach it," Asinero said. But when the floodwaters climbed to the second floor,
she said, she and her family tore down part of the roof so they could get on top
of it.
"We would have drowned if we did not do so. The sound of the floodwater was
so loud we did not have time to react," she said.
When they reached the roof, Asinero and her family tied themselves together
with bed sheets so they would not be swept away.
In Barangay Tambo by the banks of the Cagayan de Oro River, 29-year-old Roman
Pino became deeply worried when the floodwaters continued to rise midnight of
Friday.
"By 1 a.m., the water was so deep, 15 feet, that we had to climb to the roof
of our house," Pino said.
By then the lights had gone out. "It was pitch black all around us," he said.
It made their climb to the roof doubly difficult, with his wife, their two
children and himself trying to make do with a small flashlight.
They are the lucky ones.
The sheer number of the dead was so overwhelming that funeral parlors could
not immediately cope.
Funeral homes packed
At Somo Memorial Homes, 50 bodies arrived in a matter of hours, but embalming
could not begin as of late Saturday due to lack of running water, according to
the manager, Ryan Somo. The power outage since late Friday had crippled Cayagan
de Oro's water distribution system.
Somo said he was worried that the untreated corpses would start decomposing
and pose more health problems.
At another funeral parlor, one of the workers said they would likely run out
of coffins. "We might just settle for coffins made of softwoods and plywood. It
will be up to the relatives of the dead," a worker named Brando said.
Pino said his family's determination and faith in God had helped them stay
alive.
"We prayed hard that we will be spared," he said. "We were only able to come
down from the roof at about 6 a.m. on Saturday, when the floodwaters started
receding."
Still chilled from the cold, Pino said he was thankful their lives were
spared. But he was grim-faced as he recalled the sight of dead bodies scattered
all over the community,
He said it was the worst flood to hit the barangay since the January 2009
deluge.
A woman, who asked not to be named, told a radio station on Saturday that she
and a number of other people desperately clung to the interior of a tire on
Friday night in an effort to save themselves.
But the current was so strong they were swept 32 kilometers away, to a beach
in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, she said.
"It was my worst nightmare," she said.
Senior Insp. Elmer Decena of the Regional Public Safety Battalion recalled
seeing people being swept away as he and his team of 12 plucked out others from
the floodwaters, one after another, using only two rubber boats.
Decena's team was among the 15 rescue teams—each with rubber boats—deployed
by the Northern Mindanao police.
City Councilor President Elipe said the floods were worsened by the loss of
forest cover due to illegal logging in upland barangays.
"The worst is yet to come if this will not stop," he warned.
Reports from JB R. Deveza and Bobby Lagsa, Inquirer
Mindanao
First posted 12:23 am | Sunday, December 18th, 2011
FROM MANILA BULLETIN
Storm slams Mindanao; 436 dead; Close to 600 dead and missing
in 'Sendong' flash floods, landslidesBy ELENA L. ABEN and AARON B.
RECUENCODecember 17, 2011, 7:40pm
[PHOTO - AS PHL TRADITION ATTEMPTS TO BRIGHTEN BLEAK CHRISTMAS FOR
RESIDENTS OF MINDANAO, 'PAROLS' TO BRIGHTEN THE HOLIDAYS: Colorful lanterns
called parols are one of the most saleable during this festive holiday season in
the country. These parols attract customers at the Freedom Park in Carbon, Cebu
City. The parols sold in the market range in cost from P35 to as much as P800,
depending on their size. (Cheryl Baldicantos)
MANILA, Philippines — Thousands face a bleak Christmas as flash floods
spawned by tropical storm "Sendong" across Mindanao swamped Cagayan de Oro City,
Iligan City, and parts of Zamboanga del Norte leaving close to 600 people dead
and missing.
As of last night, officials put the death toll at 436, with Sendong
(international name: Washi) slightly intensified as it traversed the Sulu Sea
toward Palawan.
Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwen Pang told The Associated Press
that the latest toll was based on a body count in funeral parlors. She said that
215 died in Cagayan de Oro and 144 in nearby Iligan, and the rest in several
other southern and central provinces.
Many of the bodies in parlors were unclaimed, indicating that entire families
had perished, Pang said.
The number of missing was unclear Saturday night. Before the latest Red Cross
figures, a military spokesman said about 250 people were still unaccounted for
in Iligan.
For his part, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
(NDRRMC) Executive Director and concurrent Office of Civil Defense (OCD)
Administrator Benito Ramos said in its afternoon advisory that at least 400 were
missing.
Most of the dead were asleep Friday night when raging floodwaters tore
through their homes from swollen rivers and cascaded from mountain slopes
following 12 hours of pounding rain in the southern Mindanao region. The region
is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the archipelago
nation.
Meanwhile, a report from the city government of Iligan City led by Mayor
Lawrence Lt. Cruz said a total of 378 residents, among them children, died in
flash floods that destroyed or damaged some 157 houses.
Mayor Cruz has ordered the city's social welfare and development department
to provide temporary shelter to a total of 1,895 homeless families affected by
the floods.
The Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) stated that as of 2 p.m. yesterday, there were 97 recovered
bodies in Cagayan De Oro City where flash floods affected 23 barangays.
The EastMinCom also said in that report that at least 125 people were missing
while about 2,000 people have been rescued from the floods.
Another report from the AFP Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) Saturday
afternoon showed 75 bodies have been recovered in Iligan City, while 15 people
were rescued at sea.
AFP WestMinCom spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang also said 250 people
remain unaccounted for in Iligan City alone, where 11 villages were severely
devastated by the storm.
After the devastation, President Benigno S. Aquino III directed government
agencies, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to extend assistance
to areas affected by storm "Sendong".
Based on information reaching the NDRRMC operations center in Camp Aguinaldo,
most of the fatalities were from Cagayan De Oro City and Iligan City. Three
deaths all due to drowning were also recorded in Polanco, Zamboanga Del Norte,
and five in Compostela Valley province due to landslide at Mt. Diwalwal.
In Lanao del Norte, the bodies of nine victims were recovered, the NDRRMC
said.
Ramos said his office has heard about reports being relayed by some local
officials and other first responders, including the military, indicating a
higher death toll but the official said they are following a procedure before
making a report on casualties.
Massive power outage was also reported in Cagayan De Oro City.
AFP EastMinCom spokesman Col. Leopoldo Galon said the military already
dispatched three Huey helicopters, military trucks, rubber boats, speed boats,
and motor boats to be used in the on-going search and rescue (SAR) operations.
Cabangbang said search and rescue operations are still ongoing in the Western
Mindanao area.
Most of the residents were said to be deep in their sleep when flash floods
hit their villages.
In Region 11, a landslide was also reported in Mt. Diwalwal, Monkayo,
Compostela Valley, resulting in the death of five people, including four members
of a family, when a landslide buried several houses in the area.
Senior Inspector Grethen Cinco, Southern Mindanao Regional Police Office
spokesperson, said the bodies were retrieved from the house of a certain Andy
Tuan in Purok 4. She identified the fatalities as Rose dela Penas, 57; Nasser
Tuan, 6; Aliah Tuan, 14; and Rhaker Tuan, 4.
In Caraga, a total of 260 families or 1,560 persons were affected in
Barangays Lingig, Surigao del Sur and Bislig City.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA) located the eye of the storm at 180 kilometers (km) west
of Dumaguete City, as of 10 a.m. Saturday.
Storm warning Signal No. 2 remains hoisted over Palawan, Southern Negros, and
Zamboanga del Norte.
Areas under Signal No. 1 are Cuyo Island, Southern Cebu, Siquijor, Northern
Negros, Zamboanga del Sur, and Misamis Occidental.
It has maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) near the eye
and gustiness of up to 90 kph.
It is forecast to move west-northwest at 30 kph.
"Sendong" was expected to cross Palawan last night, 300 km West Southwest of
Puerto Princesa City and forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility
(PAR) this afternoon, and 640 km Southwest of Puerto Princesa City tonight.
The NDRRMC said that as of 8 a.m. yesterday, a total of 5,040 passengers, 82
trucks, six cars, 143 buses, six motorized bancas, and 87 vessels are stranded
in different ports in Regions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and Caraga
Among those stranded, there are 1,469 passengers in Iloilo City; 710 in
Bacolod City; four in Roxas City; 10 in San Jose De Buenavista; 520 in
Dumaguete; 627 in Maasin, Southern Leyte; nine in Catbalogan, Samar; 132 in
Dapitan, Zamboanga; 35 in Ozamis; 1,052 in Cagayan de Oro; 507 in Surigao; and
127 in Butuan City.
The NDRRMC earlier reported that tropical storm "Sendong" made landfall at
Hinatuan, Surigao, at around 4 p.m. Friday.
Public storm signals were also raised in the affected provinces, but Ramos
said apparently the residents remained complacent.
"Hindi naman dati nakaka-experience ng ganitong bagyo yun areas na tinamaan
in northern Mindanao kasi hindi usual path ng bagyo na dumaan doon. Kaya
nagkaroon ng complacency on the part ng ilang kababayan natin," said Ramos, as
he stressed: "Hindi tayo nagkulang ng paalala, katulong pa namin kayo sa media."
The NDRRMC official added, "Hindi naman daw malakas ang ulan bago natulog
yung mga tao." But he said reports showed there was sudden surge of floodwaters
at around 2:30 a.m. when most of the people were already asleep.
The rampaging waters swept away homes, he added.
A report by the NDRRMC likewise said the massive flooding, particularly in
Cagayan De Oro City and Iligan City was due to the overflowing of the river
systems of Mandulog and Agos.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said P5.36 million worth of
standby funds and P23.95 million relief supplies are ready for immediate release
to the affected areas.
DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman has instructed all DSWD regional offices to be
on alert and continue to coordinate with concerned local government units to
assess the extent of the typhoon and to be able to immediately provide
assistance to affected families. (With reports from AFP,
Madel R. Sabater and Ellalyn B. de Vera)
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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