The destroyed elementary school at Barangay Umiray in General Nakar, Quezon. (Photo courtesy of DRRMO)
LUCENA CITY — After Super Typhoon Karding (international name: Noru) cut across Quezon province on Sunday, Sept. 26, a mountain village in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges suffered the most from its wrath.
Citing initial information from one of the villagers, Erberto Astrera, General Nakar’s disaster risk reduction, and management officer, described the situation as “terrible.”
“The damage in the village is more than 85 to 90 percent. Halos walang yero na ang bubong ng elementary school. Maraming bahay ang nawalan ng bubong dahil sa lakas ng hangin,” Astrera said in a phone interview Monday morning.
(Almost all the roofs of the elementary school are gone. Many houses lost their roofs because of the strong wind.)
The village has a total population of 5,925, composed of 1,470 families, some of them indigenous people.
Mayor Eliseo Ruzol and other concerned local officials left the town toward the village to assess the situation and bring emergency aid to affected villagers.
“We’re now going there to bring the badly needed help,” Ruzol said in an earlier phone interview.
Astrera said the typhoon destroyed crops ready for harvesting in vast farmlands and rice fields in Umiray, the farthest territory of the province.
It lies in the boundary of Dingalan, Aurora, and can be reached by land travel from Manila or five hours of sea travel from General Nakar.
Astrera said the rest of General Nakar sustained minor damage. INQ
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