PM: RED CROSS SAYS 652 DEAD; 808 MISSING
[PHOTO- Policemen
carry the body of a flashflood victim in Cagayan de Oro City, while volunteers
(inset) use a rubber boat to ferry residents to safer grounds]
MANILA, DECEMBER 18, 2011 (STAR) By Aurea Calica -
President Aquino ordered yesterday the mobilization of government forces to
ensure the delivery of relief and assistance to the victims of tropical storm
"Sendong" in Mindanao.
Aquino also ordered a review of the government's disaster response manual to
prevent more unnecessary loss of lives in the aftermath of Sendong.
Aquino issued the order following a briefing by disaster and relief officials
regarding their response measures to the devastation brought about by the storm
that left hundreds of people dead and missing.
During the briefing with the President, the National Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Council (NDRMMC) stressed the possibility that the death toll
could increase due to the number of people missing.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said about 100,000
people, or about 20,000 families, were displaced and brought to more than a
dozen emergency shelters in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City and other areas.
The DSWD has so far distributed food packs and other relief goods to the
affected families that could last for three days. It is planning to distribute
more food packs.
With regards to the current search and rescue efforts, police and military
officials told Aquino that they needed more rubber boats for their rescue
missions.
They said rescue efforts as well as salvaging dead bodies would continue as
the weather improved.
PHNO: PHOTOS BELOW COURTESY OF THE
EDMONTON SUN ONLINE (EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA)
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the DSWD had
opened evacuation and centers in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan while the Philippine
National Police (PNP) mobilized search and rescue units.
Valte said Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo had ordered
the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to help in augmenting water supply for the
affected residents.
Valte said they were advised that floodwaters were subsiding but "we will be
doing all that we can, we will be extending all the necessary assistance" to
lessen the devastation of the storm.
The Philippine Navy deployed all available ships in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan
City for rescue and relief operations.
"Our Naval Forces in Eastern and Western Mindanao stationed in Davao and
Zamboanga cities, respectively, have been alerted to conduct and search and
rescue as well as relief operations," Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said.
Tonsay said the BRP Jose Loor Jr. rescued 15 people in Barangay Bayog,
Santiago, Iligan City while two other navy ships, BRP Jose Andrada and BRP
Alfredo Peckson, are in the coastal areas undertaking search and rescue
operations.
Local shipping companies Negros Navigation and SuperFerry also announced they
would help in transporting relief goods and donations to Cagayan de Oro at no
cost.
The Navy also extended its support to disaster prone-areas by deploying its
Disaster Response and Rescue Teams (DRRTs) in Compostela Valley to attend to the
needs of victims of landslides and flashfloods.
Tonsay said ships were also deployed in Palawan for relief and rescue
operations.
Aquino instructed concerned government agencies to make the necessary
preparations and brace for the entry of Sendong in Palawan, the next place
expected to be hit by the storm based on weather forecasts.
"As of this report, adjacent Naval Forces Central in Cebu and Naval
Forces West in Puerto Princesa have been alerted to deploy their naval assets
for possible assistance to the responding Naval Forces in Mindanao," Tonsay
said.
The state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (PAGASA) estimated the volume of rainfall of Sendong to
be heavy, between 10 to 20 millimeters, within the 300-kilometer diameter of the
storm.
In its 5 p.m. forecast, PAGASA said Palawan would experience stormy weather
while Southern Negros, Cuyo and Coron group of islands would experience rains
with gusty winds and the coastal waters along these areas would be rough to very
rough.
Unexpected
Malacañang issued a statement saying Aquino wanted a more accurate and
effective typhoon tracking system to alert communities along the typhoon path to
have enough time to prepare.
Areas vulnerable to flashfloods must be identified for the government to
issue immediate warnings during heavy downpours and typhoons, the President
said.
The high casualty figure in yesterday's storm prompted Aquino to review
measures on disaster preparations, particularly in Mindanao.
NDRMMC chief Benito Ramos said residents in the region apparently
underestimated the threat posed by the approaching storm, which was only pegged
at Signal No. 1.
Ramos suggested some residents dismissed the threat since storms rarely hit
Mindanao, which is outside the country's typhoon belt.
Ramos stressed that before Sendong's landfall, regional Office of Civil
Defense (OCD) issued a series of disaster warnings to residents in the storm's
path to be prepared.
The NDRMMC said it could not estimate crop and property damage
because emergency workers, including soldiers and police officers, were
evacuating families and recovering casualties.
Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City, said many people were caught by
surprise when floodwaters rose by almost a meter in less than an hour.
He said most of the people were asleep when floodwaters entered their homes.
"This is the worst flooding our city had experienced in years," he said.
Iligan resident Eric Carillo said the rains started pouring late Friday but
his family, who emerged alive from the floods, were not unduly alarmed and did
not seek higher ground.
"I've been around for 47 years and this was the worst flooding I have ever
experienced," he added.
Iligan tourism officer Pat Noel said floodwaters began rising shortly before
midnight as people slept, sweeping houses made of light materials and their
inhabitants along the riverbanks.
"Many of them told me they sought refuge on their rooftops," he said after
joining the first wave of rescuers at daybreak.
Two of the three rivers that flow into the port of Iligan had overflowed, he
added.
Nef Lucson of GMA TV in Cagayan de Oro City said his family was among the
missing while he was out covering the storm.
Lucson posted a message on his Facebook account yesterday calling for help.
"While I was covering news for the typhoon Sendong, it was only later I
learned that even our rented house was not spared by it. All the things are
devastated as well and some are lost.
"As of this writing, I can't reach my trapped family since the effect of the
flood is grave, and while I'm still waiting for rescue, I would like to ask for
assistance like food and clothing and a little amount of money to cope with the
expenses.
"I still need to find temporary shelter for them," he said.
Marlis Carillo-Dayanan, her two-year-old daughter and her husband survived
the deluge by climbing to the rooftop to escape the rampaging floodwaters.
Dayanan said they never thought they could survive when they saw the
floodwaters rise so fast.
Survivors said they were rudely awakened from their sleep by rampaging
floodwaters that entered their houses through open windows.
"I ran to a nearby two-storey house and joined its occupants in climbing up
to its roof and there I watched the floodwaters hit the houses," said Joel
Faura. – With Evelyn Macairan, Jaime Laude, John Unson,
Edith Regalado, Rainier Allan Ronda
PHNO: WITH THANKS TO THE
EDMONTON SUN FOR THE ABOVE PHOTOS!
FROM THE DAILY INQUIRER
Red Cross: Philippine floods toll 652 dead with 808 missing
Agence France-Presse 8:14 pm | Sunday, December 18th, 2011
[PHOTO COURTESY OF SHOWBIZNEST ONLINE - At least 500 people are dead,
more than 600 are still missing and more than 2,000 have been rescued in Cagayan
de Oro and Iligan City after a flashflood and landslide strucked the area
following a 10-hours of rain caused by Tropical Storm Sendong in this part of
the Philippines.]
MANILA, Philippines—The death toll from mammoth floods unleashed in the
southern Philippines by tropical storm Sendong (international name: Washi) has
climbed to 652 with 808 others missing, the Red Cross said Sunday.
The devastated port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on Mindanao island
accounted for most of the deaths, the agency said.
The head of the government's disaster response agency, Benito Ramos, said
their own count stood at 516 deaths and 274 missing. But he conceded that the
death toll would likely go higher.
22,000 families crammed in 35 evacuation centers—Soliman
By TJ Burgonio Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:49 pm | Saturday, December
17th
[PHOTO - Residents stand among debris after tropical storm Washi raked
through Iligan City on the southern island of Mindanao on Dec. 17. The death
toll from tropical storm Washi surged to 180 on December 17 with nearly 400
people missing in flash floods that ravaged the southern Philippines, officials
said. (CHERRYL VERGEIRE/AFP/Getty Images)
MANILA, Philippines—Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman on Saturday
activated quick-response teams and mobilized volunteers to respond to the needs
of thousands forced to flee their homes by floods spawned by Tropical Storm
Sendong (international codename: Washi) in Mindanao.
"It's sad that so many people perished before Christmas. It came in the night
and people were not ready. They were swept away," Soliman said by phone after
President Benigno Aquino presided over a disaster-risk reduction meeting in Camp
Aguinaldo.
Floodwaters had risen so fast at past midnight Friday, catching residents in
Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City and nearby areas unaware, and making it difficult
for rescue operations, she said, quoting officials.
"When the waters rose, people were sleeping. They probably didn't think it
would rise that fast. NDRRMC blamed siltation. The pineapples of Bukidnon did
not absorb water as the trees were able to do in the past," she said.
In the aftermath of the disaster, some 22,000 families were crammed inside at
least 35 evacuation centers in Mindanao, mostly in Cagayan de Oro, according to
Soliman.
Welfare officials, however, were not overwhelmed by the sheer number of
evacuees. Volunteers had been deployed to pack food items, and cook food for the
evacuees, she said.
"We're not shocked. We've handled this many number of evacuees before," she
said. "The volunteers are on the ground packing food items. Some 10,000 food
packs are on their way to Iligan City."
Aquino instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development to assess
the immediate needs of the evacuees and "determine emergency shelter
assistance," Soliman said on the phone.
The DSWD has prepositioned P3 million for the relief goods out of a total
fund of P29.31 million on standby for local government units hit hardest by the
storm.
Aquino alarmed by storm's toll in Mindanao By DJ
Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer 7:50 pm | Saturday, December 17th, 2011
[PHOTO - A father weeps while carrying his child (Via
twitter.com/#!/mindanaoan/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitpic.com%2F7udqwz)]
MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino, expressing alarm at the rising
death toll in Mindanao in the wake of Tropical Storm Sendong (international
codename: Washi), on Saturday called for a review of the government's crisis
manual on natural disasters.
He also sought a longer-term response to "correct" all disaster risks from
mining and other activities that had led to the deforestation of storm-hit
areas, particularly riverside settlements in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.
But the first mitigation, he said, should focus on the relocation of
residents in all areas identified to be at risk from severe weather disturbances
like Sendong, which had killed at least 184 as of late Saturday afternoon in
Mindanao alone. At least 18 people were reported killed in Negros Oriental.
Presiding over an inter-agency conference at the National Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Council headquarters, Aquino was apprised of the
developments on the unfolding tragedy in the South.
Present at the conference were Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky"
Soliman, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Transportation and Communication
Secretary Mar Roxas and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Jessie Dellosa.
"The number of casualties is alarming, [considering] there were warnings
three days before," said Aquino, in a short-sleeved blue shirt and denim pants.
He said Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo should coordinate with the
Department of Science and Technology to lay out specific plans for mitigating
disaster risks in vulnerable cities and towns.
Aquino said there was a need to identify these disaster-prone places, and
"the first mitigation is the relocation of [people in] these areas."
He also called for the review of the government's crisis response manual,
including the dissemination of warnings by the state weather bureau.
Aquino said there might be a need to conduct "mandatory meetings" between
local government units and disaster officials before the arrival of expected
destructive storms.
He said such meetings should be attended "not by token representatives," as
has happened in the past, but by officials who are decision-makers and who can
shape disaster response efforts in their localities.
Soliman said 35 evacuation centers had been put up in different parts of
Mindanao since Sendong landed.
Food packs that can provide a family three days supply of food are to be
distributed to displaced persons, she added.
Soliman said her department was also preparing "Noche Buena" food packs that
would include ingredients for typical Christmas Eve fare such as canned fruit
"cocktail" and spaghetti.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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