Visayans seek help, word from relatives

CEBU CITY—Visayans desperately seeking help and word from loved ones in areas ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” used social networking sites to ask for information.

Others flooded radio stations and government offices with phone calls.

One of them was a Cebu Port Authority (CPA) employee who used his Facebook account to ask for help for victims in Sta. Fe town, Bantayan Island.

“People are hungry and some are ransacking retail stores to find food they can eat. Bantayan and Sta. Fe towns are badly hit and destroyed by Yolanda’s gruesome force. No power. Island in total darkness,” wrote Richard Go Batiquin, CPA employee in Sta. Fe.

His status was accompanied by photos that showed the devastation in Sta. Fe, one of the three towns that constitute Bantayan Island in northern Cebu province. The two others are Bantayan and Madridejos.

“Sta. Fe’s helpless fate after Yolanda’s attack. We NEED HELP ASAP! This may be our last and only chance to post if Internet signal is still working. No water. No food. All road access filled with fallen debris. Literally unpassable by commute. It is total chaos,” his other post read.

A total of 15 people interacted with Batiquin to express worry on the condition of their relatives on Bantayan Island.

When reached by the Inquirer, Batiquin said he used his cellular phone that had Internet data plan to inform the public about their situation in Sta. Fe.

He said he had to save his battery because there was no power supply on the island.

“We are asking for help because we have no water and food here. The stores were ransacked by some people here just to eat,” he added in Cebuano.

95% destroyed

Batiquin said at least 95 percent of the houses in Sta. Fe had been destroyed.

He said some of their neighbors had stayed in the chapel while others just looked for anything that had roof to stay in.

Batiquin said he was staying in the CPA office in Sta. Fe but the passenger terminal was also damaged.

Manny Cabahug also posted on Facebook about an initiative by Madridejos residents here and abroad to organize “Bangon Lawis.” Madridejos town is being referred to as Lawis by its residents.

In Tabogon town, Cebu, some children were seen carrying posters on the road seeking help. “We need food and water,” one poster read.

In Iloilo, people, especially those residing in other provinces and abroad, posted appeals and called radio stations seeking information about their relatives, particularly those in northern Iloilo, northern Antique, Capiz and Aklan provinces.

Many areas were still cut off from communication and were without electricity.

Those who were able to tell their stories recounted how the intensity of the typhoon stunned residents despite days of preparation and anticipation.

“It looked like the iron roofings were being easily rolled up and thrown away,” Edward Basilonia, chief of the Capiz provincial press bureau, described how the strong winds hit Roxas City.

Capiz was among the worst-hit areas in Panay.

In the capital town of Kalibo in Aklan, residents of Laserna Street along the Aklan River evacuated early Thursday to Aklan College. The residents, mostly living in houses made of light materials, prayed and huddled together as the strong winds lashed the town.

“Even inside the school, we could feel the thunderous wind,” Kim-sin Tugna said.

Swept by flood

Mary Grace Nagrama, who had evacuated, found her house swept by floodwater after it was destroyed by strong winds.

“We don’t know how to rebuild our house because we have no money,” Nagrama, the second of five siblings, told the Inquirer.

Most of the ruined houses were made of light materials but even concrete and steel-framed ones were damaged.

“This exempts no one,” said Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco.

While tens of thousands stayed in evacuation centers or with neighbors and relatives, others found whatever place they felt safe in to save themselves from the storm’s onslaught.

At  Barangay (village) Carmelo in Banate town in Iloilo, nine families, or about 50 people, sought refuge and stayed overnight at a cemetery on Thursday until rescue teams were able to reach them the next day.

Many of the reported fatalities in Western Visayas died from being hit by uprooted trees or iron roofings. But at least two of those killed died due to cardiac arrest.

Confronted with the strongest typhoon to have hit land, some residents invoked traditional beliefs in fighting and driving away calamities.

But an unidentified man died in Laua-an town in Antique after he was accidentally hit by a bolo he was holding.

“The man was believed to be performing a ritual that includes fighting an imagined enemy when strong winds made him hit himself,” said Broderick Train, executive officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Even as reports of more casualties are expected to come in, officials said the loss of human lives could have been worse without early preparation and preemptive evacuation.

“We are thankful because of the minimum casualties so far,” said Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores.

A day after the onslaught, victims have started to pick up their lives.

Roxas Mayor Alan Celino said he was met by a man while he was assessing the damage in the city. “We shall rise again,” the man told the mayor in Aklanon.—With a report from Ador Mayol, Inquirer Visayas