Palace mobilizes rescue, relief operations

MANILA, Philippines - 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.

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