U.N. APPEALS FOR $28 M MINDANAO FLOOD AID / CDO CITY: DOG DIED SAVING A LIFE
[PHOTO - Families displaced by Tropical Storm "Sendong" line up for their daily food ration at Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City. EDWIN BACASMAS.]
ILIGAN, DECEMBER 23, 2011 (INQUIRER) Two Mindanao cities devastated by flash floods that killed more than 1,000 people look like they have been hit by a tsunami, a United Nations official said Thursday as he appealed for $28 million in aid to help half a million people affected by the disaster.
UN humanitarian coordinator Soe Nyunt-U also voiced concern about the possibility of disease outbreaks among the thousands living in evacuation centers after their houses were washed away last Friday when a tropical storm unleashed flash floods.
"It was as if the cities were hit by an inland tsunami," Nyunt-U told reporters in Manila. "Entire areas were completely flattened. Only a few sturdy buildings remain standing, and these had sustained a lot of damage."
"Debris from houses, buildings and other structures that had been destroyed by the storm was all swept out to the sea, leaving huge areas devoid of all traces of habitation," he said.
Nyunt-U said he was hopeful donors and foreign governments will respond to the appeal despite the global economic crisis. An appeal launched following a 2009 typhoon that killed about 500 people in Manila collected only half the funds needed.
"It's the Christmas season and the willingness of the international community is high," he said, adding that "no country can stand alone."
About 45,000 displaced are inside evacuation centers, most of them in worst-hit Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities in the southern Mindanao region. Another 266,000 are being assisted outside temporary shelters. Nearly 30,000 houses were destroyed and damaged. The two cities are home to nearly a million people.
Local authorities and grieving relatives were moving ahead with dozens of burials each day, after a handful of funeral parlors complained they were overwhelmed and could no longer accept bodies, which were still being retrieved from the sea or mud almost a week after the disaster struck.
Aid workers rushed in relief supplies, but a lack of running water was a major concern.
"We must improve this situation at the soonest possible time to avoid disease outbreaks that will further compound the hardships of the people already weakened by hunger and grief from loss of family and friends," Nyunt-U said.
He mentioned a cholera type virus that may occur due to problems stemming from congestion in the evacuation centers, where poor sanitation and hygiene posed a health risk.
Dog dies after saving drowning girl in CDO flashflood By Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao Philippine Daily Inquirer
[PHOTO - Jennylou Yecyec, 7 and mother Marilou at the evacuation center in Cagayan De Oro City. Photo by Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao]
CAGAYAN DE ORO-A dog, indeed, is man's best friend.
This is what 7-year-old Jennylou Yecyec found out during the devastating flood that swept her and countless others away from Isla de Oro and the other villages here late Friday.
When the rampaging waters came and rose, Jennylou, her parents Nilo and Marilou, and her brother Mark decided they should get to the roof of their house.
Marilou said they believed they were safe there, as their neighbors did. They were wrong.
Their house-made of light materials-did not have a chance against the 30-foot torrent.
Soon, the Yecyec family found themselves bobbing in the rampaging waters.
Marilou said she managed to grab a piece of wood from the debris of demolished houses and held on to it with Jennylou while her husband and son and their pet family dog struggled against the strong current.
A whirlpool that came out of nowhere swallowed every one of them, along with dozens of other people.
Marilou said Jennylou and the dog-which her family has had for three years-got separated from the rest.
Riding piggyback
The girl recounted that while gasping for breath, the dog-pregnant at the time-tried hard not to drift away from her.
"It's as if it did not want to leave my side," she said.
As she gasped for air, Jennylou said the dog would bump her lightly, as if trying to tell her something.
"So I rode piggybacked on her and she did the swimming," Jennylou said.
Out in the open sea, Jennylou said the already exhausted mongrel navigated towards a plank of wood floating nearby. As soon as she held on to the wood, she said the dog sank and was never seen again.
At daybreak, rescuers on rubber boat plucked Jennylou and several others from the sea.
At an evacuation center, she would later be reunited with the rest of her family, who also survived the nightmare. There were profuse expressions of gratitude when the missing member turned up.
"I would have died if not for our dog," Jennylou said.
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