BOTOLAN, ZAMBALES?A man given up for dead when he was swept by a strong current at the height of Typhoon ?Kiko? (international codename: Morakot) while crossing a bridge in Barangay Carael here on Friday has survived and has been reunited with his family.

Elmer Dabu, 35, a native of Barangay Kamara here, tried to cross the bridge with two others?Felix Campos, 53, and Paul Torres, 51?to be with their families.

?I just wanted to see if my family was safe. I have two children, ages 9 and 7. I don?t know what happened to them and my wife, so I really wanted to go home as soon as possible,? said Dabu, a security guard stationed in Pampanga.

He said he was concerned when he heard that the Bucao Dike here was breached by rainwater and mud, resulting in the flooding of 10 villages in the town.

Although the current was strong and they were only clinging to ropes, Dabu and the other men persisted in crossing the bridge.

?But the current was so strong that we were no longer able to move but just concentrate on holding on to the ropes. But it got harder and harder to do that, and when we swayed, all three of us slid. I could not hold on any longer. I fell into the water,? he said.

As Dabu fell into the water, Campos and Torres struggled to hold on to the ropes while residents who were planning to cross watched the events unfold.

Luckily for Campos and Torres, they were close to the rescue team of the Philippine Coast Guard and were immediately pulled out of the water.

While the people who saw Dabu as he was swept by the current had lost hopes that he would survive the rampaging water, he kept his head above water and swam to a roadside in the nearby village of Sto. Niño.

?When the water pulled me under, I struggled to stay above. While trying to swim, I took off my bag which contained my uniform, wallet and phone. It was pulling me down, so I had to get rid of it,? he said.

Coast Guard Lt. Eliezer Dalnay said four rescue teams helped in evacuating residents in Botolan.

?Some of them were trapped in their homes, so we have to go from house to house in our rubber boats. When we got there, we found them on the rooftops, carrying their most precious belongings,? he said.

But Dalnay said some people did not want to be rescued. ?They just wanted to stay where they were. They did not want to lose their belongings to looters,? he said.