‘Kristine’ rescuers ‘overwhelmed’ by pleas for help
LEGAZPI CITY — When Maria Beresa Obias, 19, of Barangay Basud in Polangui town in Albay realized that authorities could not immediately come to rescue her family, she sprang into action.
With her 24-year-old brother at her side, she began tearing apart the roof of their one-storey house at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday as the floodwaters started swelling to waist-deep levels due to the relentless rains brought by Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami), submerging their home.
Determined to reach safety, Obias knew they had to move to higher ground and was willing to risk everything to make it happen.
By 10 p.m., they lifted their 87-year-old grandmother, six nephews and nieces, including an eight-month-old baby, and her three siblings to the roof using a big plastic basin to escape from the massive flood that struck their neighborhood.
“When our neighbors heard us removing the roof, they helped us transfer through their window on the second floor. They also sheltered three other families in the neighborhood,” Obias told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Wednesday.
They spent the night at their neighbor’s two-storey house without dry clothes and food recovered and were only rescued at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
Pleas for help in social media
Responders in many parts of Bicol were overwhelmed as residents pleaded for help amid widespread flooding in the region.
Local disaster risk reduction and management offices and regional response agencies were working overnight to answer calls for assistance that circulated online as residents were trapped in their homes and in flooded evacuation centers.
Gremil Alexis Naz, spokesperson of the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol, said that they still do not have the official numbers but that response assets in the region were “overwhelmed.”
Many people have been stuck on the roofs of their houses in the third district of Albay, the Rinconada area, and Naga City in Camarines Sur, as rescuers were not able to help them because of the strong currents.
Dante Baclao, the acting chief of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said they received many requests for rescue on Tuesday midnight but were unable to move because of the high flood water level, particularly in the towns of Polangui, Libon and Oas.
Casualties
There have been no updates on whether rescuers managed to help other residents isolated by flooding and landslides as communication lines in some areas were affected and electricity supply has not been restored.
In Albay’s Guinobatan town, one of the two individuals reported missing after a landslide Tuesday night has been found dead.
According to Maguiron village councilor Carl Pardiñas, the body of the mother was recovered around 9 a.m. Her daughter remains missing.
In Camarines Sur, Gov. Vincenzo Renato Luigi Villafuerte said they rescued 301 persons from the towns of Nabua, Bula, Bato, Pili and Ocampo as of 7 a.m. on Wednesday, while other personnel were still conducting search and rescue operations on missing persons.
Earlier, the police reported that an 11-year-old boy went missing on Tuesday after he was swept away by a strong current of water in Barangay San Nicolas in Iriga City.
Villafuerte said 21,300 families, or 95,300 individuals, were evacuated in the province.
OCD data showed that 1,133 families, or 4,528 individuals, were also evacuated in Masbate; 22 families, or 84 people, in Catanduanes; and 536, or 1,717 people, in Camarines Norte as of Tuesday night.
President Marcos lamented that the Bicol Region was the first to be hit by “Kristine” even if it was almost “on the periphery” of the storm.
He assured former Vice President Leni Robredo of aid for her home region “as soon as we can get in.”
Malacañang also ordered the suspension of work in government offices and classes at all levels in Bicol on Thursday, October 24, due to the effects of Kristine.
‘Red alert’ in Luzon
As Kristine moves to Luzon, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) said on Wednesday that seven regions have been placed under red alert, activating Charlie Protocol, the highest level of emergency preparedness.
These high-risk areas are the Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Bicol, and Eastern Visayas.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also said that the military has mobilized its forces, assets, and resources to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations across affected areas.
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said they deployed all personnel and resources to support disaster response efforts. -WITH REPORTS FROM CLARENCE ROI GILLEGO AND DELFIN T. MALLARI JR., NESTOR CORRALES AND FRANCES MANGOSING
