Potable water was provided yesterday by a Manila-based firm to Ronda town, one of the towns hardest hit by typhoon Seniang in southern Cebu.
The Manila Water Development Inc. set up a mobile water treatment plant that can process 1,500 to 3,000 liters of drinking water per hour said Edilberto Mercado, one of its operators.
“If it’s surface water, the production is bigger. When it’s brackish or seawater, lesser,” Mercado told reporters.
The mobile water treatment plant will remain in Ronda town for seven to 10 days.
It was brought earlier to the towns of Dumanjug and Alcantara.
The mobile plant was requested by the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) last week.
Enough for now
“There is water for washing, but not for drinking. Their water systems were destroyed and were all cut off (because of the storm),” Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III told reporters.
Mercado said the plant can operate for 20 hours straight, only resting for four hours at a time to allow the system to cool down.
PDRRMO chief Baltazar Tribunalo said the plant will temporarily provide drinking water for the residents.
Last week, the Church of Latter Day Saints set up water filtration systems in barangays Tupas and Ilaya, Ronda town. Another one is located behind the municipal hall.
“For now, this is enough. While the residents and the local government units still need water, these systems will be on standby,” Tribunalo said.
Calamity fund
Tribunalo said the water firm will assist the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) in pipe repairs.
Governor Davide said he will tap the province’s remaining P77 million calamity fund for immediate cash aid.
About P10,000 will be given to families whose houses were destroyed and P5,000 to families whose houses were damaged.
The PDRRMO pegged the number of damaged houses at 111.
The death toll caused by typhoon Seniang rose to 17 with most deaths in Ronda town. Two children remain missing after their house was swept away by floodwaters.
Tribunalo said the province has enough relief goods for the victims. Classes were suspended for a week in the Calagasan National High School in Argao town after a landslide caused by typhoon Seniang rendered the road leading to the school impassable.
Food aid
In Pinamungahan town, two classrooms each in Tupas Elementary School and Lut-od Elementary School were damaged by fallen trees.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas asked the Ronda municipal government to submit a written request to their office so they can extend assistance to them.
Shalaine Lucero, DSWD Asst. Regional Director for Operations, said they delivered 1,917 food packs in Barili, 1,000 food packs in Dumanjug and 1,000 food packs and 368 boxes of water in Alcantara.
She said they will finalize the list of beneficiaries for Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) in the typhoon-hit areas.
In Mandaue City, the city government delivered food aid to Ronda town last Friday.
Felix Suico, head of the City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office said his staff delivered 50 sacks of rice, 50 cartons of assorted canned goods and 50 cartons of noodles to Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco.
The Mandaue City government sent a water tanker to Ronda to help distribute water to residents and it will remain there until the municipal government repairs the town’s water system, Suico said.
In Sibonga town, Mayor Lionel Bacaltos said there were no traffic problems experienced yesterday.
The municipal government opened an alternate route for large trucks in sitio Lindogon, barangay Simala last Sunday afternoon, days after the approach to the Dumlog bridge was damaged by typhoon Seniang.
The road will be accessible from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., Mayor Bacaltos said.
He said personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are now setting up a prefabricated steel bridge.
“Some trucks will be able to pass now. However, those with longer containers may still find it really difficult to navigate since the road has many curves,” he said.
Bacaltos said those coming from Cebu may access the road through barangay Bagacay./With Reporter Peter L. Romanillos and Correspondents Carine M. Asutilla and Norman V. Mendoza