Massive task to rebuild homes, lives begins after typhoon in Isabela

CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela, Philippines — Melchor Cabasag, a farmer, was overcome with emotion as he stared at his corn farm that was buried in mud and debris after floodwaters inundated this city and the rest of Isabela province over the weekend.

The visibly distressed Cabasag, a resident of Bagumbayan village here, was among 100,000 residents who were either trapped in their homes or fled to evacuation centers after the deluge in the province that began on Wednesday.

It was shortly before midnight on Friday when floodwaters rose to a dangerous level, reaching the roofs of houses in low-lying villages.

“We have no more money to spend now,” Cabasag told the Inquirer, adding that the pandemic and the flooding had dealt a hefty blow to their lives.

Artemio Angoluan, another farmer from Santa Barbara village, said he and his family left their belongings on the second floor of their house that Wednesday before they headed to an evacuation center.

When they returned on Sunday morning, they were devastated to see their sodden clothes and mud-strewn floors. “Our appliances were all damaged and we were left with almost nothing,” Angoluan said.

Mired in anxiety

Elsewhere, residents mired in anxiety began cleaning their homes of stinking mud and debris, uncertain how to recover from the devastation left by the flood.

As of Sunday, the deluge claimed the lives of at least 22 people in Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces. They were either buried in landslides or drowned in the flood.

President Rodrigo Duterte arrived here around noon on Sunday and immediately condoled with the families of those who died in the flooding.

Duterte, who also conducted an aerial survey of the region, said climate change was the culprit in the destructive calamity.

“The problem is whether we accept it or not, the climate change [is the culprit as] there’s a lot of water vapor going upstairs in the Pacific Ocean and accumulating into so much rain,” he told local officials at Tuguegarao International Airport.

He said the government had been “working very hard to rebuild” the lives of villagers as he ordered rescue and relief operations “until all families are saved, all casualties and missing persons have been accounted for, and all affected individuals and communities have received their needed relief and other assistance.”

‘Bayanihan’ spirit

“We know your anguish and we will respond with urgency. With the ‘bayanihan’ spirit of Filipinos, I am confident that together we will brave all the challenges ahead and emerge stronger as a nation,” Duterte said.

He ordered the regional social welfare office to immediately distribute cash assistance to the victims, on top of the aid from the other local governments and from nongovernmental organizations.

The President urged local leaders to “actively collaborate with the task force created to lead the rehabilitation efforts because your lives, including your good health, safety and improved welfare, are the government’s priority.”

Vice President Leni Robredo also visited the flood-hit areas and distributed relief goods to displaced residents in Cagayan and Isabela.

Robredo said her office received several requests for food and drinking water as villagers began cleaning their homes.

“We failed to reach two towns in Cagayan that remained flooded. But we have teams that will bring relief goods to these areas. They tried to cross but they failed so they will find a way,” she said.

Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said the recent floods were the worst in the last 45 years.