CATARMAN, Northern
Samar – Reports coming in from the different towns are not so good
for the New Year. Due to the heavy rains last week that caused flash
floods and landslides in the different towns of the province, data
reaching the Provincial Disaster Management Unit (PDMU) disclose that
five were confirmed dead in the landslides at Brgy. Diit de Suba in
Silvino Lobos town, two died from drowning in the flash floods in
Mondragon, while an infant died from a snake bite in the same town.
Another died from drowning and his dead body was found in Pambujan.
Those who died in the
landslides were Pablo Gallamora, 56 years old; Junjun Acero, 2 years
old; Julius Taco, 5 years old; Langga Taco, 12 years old; and Violeta
Gallamora, 50 years old. All were residents of Brgy. Diit de Suba in
Silvino Lobos. Emmanuel Soriano, 14 years old who is a resident of the
same barangay is still missing.
In Mondragon, another
town of Northern Samar, Jeryme Ymata, 5 years old and Jacky Ymata 4
years old died from drowning in the flash floods that occurred last
week. An infant Jenelyn Roplo, 8 months old died from a snake bite.
The body of Bernardo
Cerbito who was reported missing last week was found in Pambujan.
Reports have it that Cerbito was trying to save his carabao from
drowning during the height of the flashfloods.
The continuous heavy
rains caused by the cold front and the easterly wave, two weather
systems that occurred at the same time have wrought havoc in the
province claiming lives and destruction to hundreds of hectares of
rice fields.
Tales of horror from
survivors continue to haunt the Nortehanon who is trying to forget
this tragic episode of their lives. Almost everyone agree that this
was the first time that floods reaching more than five feet have
occurred in the different areas of the province.
In Catarman, the
capital town, houses near the Catarman river bank were washed away.
During the height of the floods people evacuated from their windows
using fishermen’s boats.
Radio station DYSM
manager Fermin Honey who reported to the station as early as 5 AM last
Friday almost met an accident when his motorcycle collided with a
bamboo being washed away in the street floods of Brgy. Bangkerohan.
He was stranded at the station for one day as the floods reached the
fourth stairway and came only inches away from the floor of Station
DYSM.
A seminarian who went
on foot from Catarman town to the higher areas of Brgy Cawayan said
that he saw two snakes swimming in the street floods of Brgy.
Bangkerohan.
Light and ordinary
vehicles could not “fight” the current from the street floods which
were being reinforced by rain waters coming in from the mountains of
Brgy. Macagtas. Only the army trucks from the 803rd Brigade and some
sturdier vehicles roamed the streets of Catarman and the nearby towns
as rescue operations were going on. The said barangay is located
along the Catarman river bank.
The Catarman Cathedral
was practically “filled to the brim” with more than two thousand
evacuees seeking shelter from the cold and continuous heavy rains that
pummeled the town. Other evacuees went to school buildings and
barangay halls.
Meanwhile, weather
reports say that the easterly wave continues to hover in the Visayas
area mentioning specifically Leyte and Samar. People in this part of
the country can only pray that what occurred in the last days of 2006
will not make a repeat performance in the early or any day of 2007.
