Camarines Sur villages still submerged in flood

‘ROLLY’S’WRATH Rice fields in the different towns of Camarines Sur remain flooded on Friday, nearly a week after Typhoon “Rolly” lashed through the Bicol region on Nov. 1. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Gerlie Belza had to rent a motorized boat from fishermen in Barangay San Roque Madawon, Nabua town, Camarines Sur province, to check on their school, which was still flooded on Sunday, a week after Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) pounded the Bicol region.

Belza, the school head of Mandawon Elementary School, said seven classrooms were submerged in 6-foot flood after the Bicol River, which is about a kilometer away, overflowed at the height of the typhoon.

Belza said she and other personnel had to cross the flooded rice fields by boat to reach the school and found it in complete disarray. Luckily, they had been able to secure their computer and television units, and documents and school materials before the typhoon came.

“If it continues to rain, especially that we have another weather disturbance, it will take at least three weeks for the waters to subside,” Belza said.

18 villages inundated

The school compound was not the only area flooded in Nabua. Eighteen of the 34 villages in the town are still underwater, according to a report of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).

Around 520 families or 2,471 individuals were still staying at evacuation centers, said Adam Kristian Bardon, research and planning head of the MDRRMO.

Nabua is considered the catch basin of floodwaters from the neighboring third district of Albay province and the Rinconada areas in Camarines Sur. “If our nearby towns experience heavy rains, the waters would settle to our town,” Bardon said.

He said it would take two to three months for the waters to subside in most of the villages.

Estel Estropia, spokesperson of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said 220 villages from 30 towns in Camarines Sur had reported flooding incidents. At least 21,551 houses were destroyed while 126,094 others were damaged by the typhoon, he added.

The province recorded two fatalities, identified as Dominic John Carillo, 32, from Dugcal village in Camaligan town, and Kheytlenn Flores, a 1-year-old child from Hibago village in Ocampo town.

Rolly has caused over P3.6 billion in damages to infrastructure and agriculture in Camarines Sur alone.

As of Nov. 6, communication lines were still cut in the towns of Garchitorena and Caramoan, while portions of Balatan, Bato, Baao and Buhi towns were experiencing unstable mobile phone services.

On Saturday, power supply was restored in most of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and parts of Legazpi City in Albay.