‘Yolanda worse than Ruping’, Daanbantayan folk says

“Yolanda” (international name Haiyan) made its presence felt with heavy rains and gale-force winds that devastated Daanbantayan which is situated at the northernmost tip of Cebu province. It felled trees and houses and left thousands of residents homeless and in disbelief.

“Naa man sad ko sa pagkahitabo sa Ruping pero mas kusog ni nga bagyo (I was there when Ruping happened but this is stronger),” resident Lando Layos told Cebu Daily News during the five-hour downpour last Friday morning.

The state weather bureau Pagasa said the eye of the storm struck the town at 9:40 a.m. last Friday. No deaths were recorded from the incident according to initial reports from Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro.

But 14 persons were brought to the Daanbantayan District Hospital for treatment yesterday after being wounded by shards of broken glass and galvanized iron sheets from roofs of houses blown away by the storm.

Flattened

About 10,000 residents of coastal barangays were evacuated to school buildings and the town’s sports complex in front of the municipal hall.

“Yolanda” easily uprooted century-old acacia trees in the Daanbantayan plaza and felled palm trees and power posts that blocked the road heading to the nearby towns of Medellin and San Remigio.

More than a thousand houses in the area made of light materials were reduced to wooden planks after Yolanda passed the town packing winds of 235 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 275 kph.

Residents like 48-year-old Soledad Doble scrambled for shelter. Doble tried to recover a few of her family belongings in their house that was flattened by “Yolanda.”

“Lisud lagi kaayo mi mga kabus. Asa man mi mangita ug kwarta pantukod ug bag-o nga balay? Sakit gyud pag-ayo. (It’s so hard for the poor like us. Where will we find money to build a new house? It hurts us very much),” Doble said.

Shambles

But Doble said she is thankful since her husband and seven-year-old son were safe. “We’ll just stay with a relative. We’ll try to build a new house in two months. Anyway, there’s wood here that can still be used,” she said.

The town’s plaza, once filled with decorative lamp posts, flowering plants and trees, were in shambles. Fallen acacia trees laid right in front of the church in Daanbantayan.

By noontime, power and communications were down. A Cebu Daily News team had to leave their vehicle and walk 16 kilometers from Daanbantayan to neighboring Medellin town to catch a bus ride to Bogo City at 4 p.m. last Friday since roads were blocked by fallen trees and power lines.

The team ended up in barangay Curba, Medellin town and rode the bus to Bogo City, arriving at 8:30 p.m. Motorcycle riding residents tried to pass through the roads with hopes of getting to Medellin and Daanbantayan.

Collapse

Siblings’ Roxanne and Rovie Jane Monterde held each other tightly as gusty winds bore down on inside the Daanbantayan Presidencia (town hall) where they and thousands of people were holed up in from 8 a.m. to 12 noon last Friday.

The two got separated from their mother who asked them to get plates from their house located by the seaside. They were stopped by the winds which packed enough strength to flip vehicles and motorcycles parked near the town hall.

The two, sat in a chair against the wall, and covered their ears while hugging each other, hoping for the rains to end. “Ganahan na mi mubalik ni mama (We want to return to our mother),” said the older 10-year-old Rovie Jane.

The rescue team were unable to get out of the town hall. By 10 a.m., the ceiling of the sports complex collapsed, causing evacuees to run for shelter.

They were then transferred by rescue workers by noontime to a nearby building where they will be housed for the next few days, Mayor Corro said. Corro said he will ask assistance from the Cebu provincial government to rebuild Daanbantayan.

Since communication lines were down on Friday, he said he was unable to contact Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III or other provincial officials. The Daanbantayan local government has P7 million in their calamity fund, an amount Corro said will be inadequate to restore the town.

“The first thing we will do is to clear the area with help from DRRMC (Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and ask for relief goods from DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). I cannot give an estimate right now, but maybe its hundreds of millions of pesos in damages,” Corro said.