Relief caravan reaches out to devastated Quezon towns

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines—Quezon Governor David Suarez led a four-truck convoy loaded with relief goods intended for the victims of typhoon Glenda (Rammasun) in the devastated towns of the province.

Eva Palma, a staff member of the provincial public information office (PIO), said the relief caravan left early morning Wednesday and headed towards Quezon’s 3rd and 4th districts, the two badly devastated areas.

The caravan is distributing 10,000 family relief packs, which were all prepared overnight by volunteers at the Quezon Convention Center.

Classes in public and private schools in the province remained suspended Thursday as work continues to restore normalcy.

Based on the latest figures, a total of 6,359 families were evacuated to emergency shelters in different parts of the province.

In the coastal town of Pitogo facing off Tayabas Bay in the Bondoc Peninsula area (3rd district), 285 houses were totally destroyed and another 380 partially damaged, the Quezon PIO staff said, quoting the latest figures from the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council in a briefing held late Wednesday afternoon.

In Tagkawayan town (4th district), 90 percent of the houses along its coast were totally destroyed, while in Padre Burgos (3rd), another town in front of the Tayabas Bay, 201 houses were totally wiped out and 584 suffered minor damage.

In the island town of Quezon, an estimated 60 percent of residential houses were totally destroyed.

The provincial authorities have not made contact in Alabat, another island town.

In Unisan town also in the Bondoc Peninsula, major government infrastructures were badly damaged.

Palma explained that the PRRRMC reports were all based on ‘partial reports’ from local disaster management councils.

She said they have not received the complete reports due to erratic communications as the whole province remained in the dark due to lack of electricity, as of Thursday.

Local authorities would consolidate damage and loss reports upon the return of the provincial relief caravan to the capitol on Thursday evening or Friday morning.

Palma said the PDRRMC also received a report of an oil spill from an unknown source in the Tayabas Bay area in Padre Burgos.

Palma said Suarez immediately dispatched experts from the provincial environment and natural resources office to coordinate with maritime authorities to contain the spread of the oil spill.

The typhoon also destroyed the flourishing mari-culture cages in the seas off Padre Burgos.

All major roads in Quezon are now passable to all kinds of vehicles, according to the police.

Police records revealed that the typhoon killed 10 persons in Quezon while two fishers in Padre Burgos town remained missing, as of Thursday.