After the horrendous torrential flood made by the tropical storm “Sendong” (International code name Washi) residents of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City started the effort of rebuilding their lives after the burial of their loved ones and some still searching for the missing.
Although authorities admitted the toll rate has increased over the past few weeks, they had partially stopped accounting the missing.
The official death toll of more than 1,000 has topped the number of dead of the Ondoy mishap. The latest count showed 1,257 confirmed dead as 181 still missing according to Benito Ramos, head of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
The recorded casualties are populated in several areas of Southern and Northern Mindanao.
According to Ramos, a government warning was initiated but most of the people fell deaf eared. He said that the government was adept in the information drive but this was never the time to blame one another.
As the typhoon swept through Northern Mindanao area, it unleashed flash floods in the middle of the night when most of the victims were asleep.
More than 276,000 families were displaced and sheltered in the evacuation areas and remained homeless. Several of the thousands were ready to reclaim their lives back to the villages that was destroyed.
“Dili unta mi gusto mubalik didto kay mahadluk na mi basin mausab ba (We don’t really want to come back to the village because we have been traumatized it might happen again)”, Nenita Gumaling said as she picked up her child in the middle of the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) gym.
The MSU-IIT gymnasium was one of the several dozens of evacuation centers in Iligan City. It housed more than 3,000 families in Hinaplanon and Tambo areas.
Most of the families appealed to the local government to help them provide their needs to rebuild their houses such as galvanized iron and lumber to rebuild their home.
Although a number of evacuation centers were produced, they were still overcrowded with the rising health concerns as to poor sanitation and lack of potable water. Because of that, some of them deferred to crowd with the others. They were left in the streets while waiting for relief goods to arrive.
Sustainability for tomorrow
The local government of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan said that they would help the victims sustain for the meantime until they can find the land to build for the displaced families.
Environmental clearances are required to check how secure the land is for living. Ramos said that core shelters were required to build the houses. The environmental clearances are important to secure the location that are not prone to floods or landslides.
Despite the government assessments and other non-government offices helping the displaced, some parts of the affected areas were left unattended for. Due to the inaccessibility of roads and bridges, they had a hard time sending relief goods.
Most of the relief goods were sent to the evacuation centers which made the more inaccessible zones less prioritized.
“Dili man gud mi mahatagan diri kay dili man sad mulahus ang mga truck, usahay naa usahay wala unya muulan pa jud musaka na pud mi usab sa bukid (We were seldom visited here by the trucks bringing the relief goods and since the rain continue to pour, we would go up the mountains again and into hiding)”, said Raul, a resident near Tagoloan, Cagayan de Oro.
Militaries were sent to the area to aid out in the distribution of relief goods. They had to practically ride huge trucks and cross rivers to arrive to the remote areas. Since these areas were of less priority, some of the dead bodies were lying around even after Christmas and have to retrieve them for proper burial.
Despite the ruins, the people of Tagoloan continued to monitor each other. With only about 120 families left over 300 of them, they are still hopeful for tomorrow.
“Wala na man sad ta mabuhat ani, nahitabo na ni siya pero maynta mahatagan daun bitaw ug lugar arun mapuy-an ug tarung kay di sad maayo diri lang mi duol sad sa sakit. (There’s nothing that could be done about it but we are hopeful that we will move on and be given a place to build our homes because we are afraid we could get sick if we stay here longer.)”
After the phase of giving relief goods is the actual sustaining for tomorrow. There is more to life than living in the past thus the coordination meeting by the NDRRMC last January 6 stated that the operations in the affected areas by Typhoon Sendong are in the early recovery stage.
Monetary funds are still accepted more than the clothing as to console with rebuilding infrastructures for the victims and charities are still accepted as of now.
Coping from the tragedy
After weeks of battling with the tragic incident brought by the typhoon, large areas in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City are still struggling to come in terms with the tragedy that struck their lives.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) accounted over PhP 1.4B worth of damaged properties and as much as 51, 757 sustained in both cities in Northern Mindanao not to mention severe depression from families who lost their loved ones and homes during the flood.
The wounds that were made from the horrific incident will forever leave scars and trauma for those families who had been there during the flood. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are now currently conducting debriefing for the affected families.
The physical and psychological well-being of the victims are also one concern of the LGU. The Department of Health (DoH) along with the social welfare workers help in assisting the victims coping their trauma as 22 of them already showed severe depression and anxiety from losing their family members.
Death causes and future prevention
After assessing the number of deaths tolled, the government looked over the parcels of causes of the thousands dead and hundreds missing. Most of the casualties being in the riverbanks and coastline areas which were illegal settlers have not been moved to a higher ground before everything else.
There were series of warnings of the coming storm signal and water levels rising in the rivers and coastline areas but people simply neglect it.
“Wala man sad jud mi kabalo ingon ana mahitabo diay, ready mi sa baha pero wala pud mi nagexpect ingon ato ka grabe (We weren’t really aware of the gravity of the situation, we expected a flood but not to that extent),” Nenita, a home owner of Emily Homes said.
Another factor that was believed was illegal logging which contributed to the staggering death toll as a number of victims were swept away by huge logs that came from the mountains facing the two cities. In Iligan City, it was most prominent especially in Tambo-Hinaplanon areas.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) was also looking over for causes from the collapses of three irrigation dams that contributed to the flash flooding.
Because of the mishap, the government became more secure with environmental concerns as to loggings and weather forecasts. Ramos said that people must take heed of storm signals and should be briefed for future cases to avoid disaster.
He finally said that to lessen the pain and grieves of people, the blaming must be stopped instead people must work together in the future to warn one another and listen to the local and national government and with this event, everybody has a lot to learn.
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