3 provinces count ‘Queenie’ damage

CHILDREN take comfort in each other after the abandoned truck they had been living in was washed away by floodwaters in Boljoon town, southern Cebu province, at the height of Tropical Storm “Queenie.” TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

Residents and local officials of at least three provinces where Tropical Storm “Queenie” had passed are making an inventory of the damage left on farms, infrastructure and communities a day after the storm struck on its way out of Philippine territory.

In two towns in Bohol province, a state of calamity was declared after Queenie left structures and houses in ruins, and destroyed crops ready for harvest.

One of the towns, Jagna, had to move its residents to an evacuation center when waves whipped up by Queenie destroyed houses in the coastal area.

Bonifacio Virtudes, acting Jagna mayor, said the residents had been moved to village halls and gymnasiums.

A state of calamity was declared, too, in Duero, the other Bohol town worst hit by Queenie.

Queenie claimed the lives of at least four people, including a cargo vessel officer who was killed when waves as tall as a house slammed into his vessel and threw him into the sea.

Body in kitchen

The body of Cesario dela Serna, chief engineer of the MV Edward Lawrence, was washed ashore in Barangay Looc in Jagna, Bohol, and ended up in the kitchen of Rosario Ortiz’s house in the village. Dela Serna is believed to have been thrown overboard when waves whipped up by Queenie battered his ship.

Edward Lawrence had tried to take shelter near Barangay Looc from rough seas brought by Queenie.

In Zamboangita town, Negros Oriental province, police were searching for the three passengers of a motor boat that capsized at the height of Queenie.

PO3 Ramil Melon, of the Negros Oriental provincial police office, said the passengers, two men and a woman, were identified only as Michael, Joker and Maymay.

Another passenger, Roger Calidkid, was rescued on Thursday by a fisherman, who found him floating in the waters off Zamboanguita. It was Calidkid who reported the sinking of the motorboat.

In a southern Cebu town, a fisherman was declared missing after he failed to come home on Thursday.

The family of Feliciano Looc, of Barangay Alo in Oslob town, sought the help of police after he failed to come home from fishing on Wednesday.

Residents of Barangay Nueva Caceres in Oslob sought help when flood continued to rise.

Saved by a tree

It had been raining in Cebu since 3 a.m. on Thursday last week, prompting the suspension of classes in the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay and Mandaue, and the entire Cebu province.

In Iloilo province, at least 500 passengers were stranded at ports on Thursday after the Philippine Coast Guard suspended sea travel.

In Negros Occidental province, 40 houses were destroyed while 77 others were damaged in Cauayan town due to strong winds.

Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara said he expected the damage report to be more detailed in the coming days.

In Cebu, a woman was killed and 100 families had to be moved out of their homes, according to the provincial disaster risk reduction management council.

At least four bridges in southern Cebu had been rendered impassable by flood and landslides.

The lone fatality in southern Cebu, a female resident of Malabuyoc town, drowned in floodwaters. Her son was rescued from a tree about 500 meters from where their house used to stand.

2,600 Girl Scouts evacuated

In Silay City, at least 2,600 Girl Scouts were evacuated from a camping ground when Queenie struck.

Milagros Catalan, chair of Barangay Patag, where the girls were camping, said the scouts were moved to schoolhouses.

In the tourist town of Coron, Palawan province, at least 100 passengers were stranded in the town port after port operations were suspended in anticipation of Queenie. Carmel Loise Matus, Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Doris C. Bongcac, Carla P. Gomez and Romy Amarado, Inquirer Visayas; with a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon