Floods bring fears of end of world to Agusan folk

Residents of the village of Sagunto in La Paz town, Agusan del Sur, clean up after flooding swept homes and structures after unrelenting rains. —JEFFREY SALINAS/CONTRIBUTOR

LA PAZ, Agusan del Sur— “We thought it was the end of the world.”

Public school teacher Jeffrey Salinas recalled being told this by his parents, describing how rampaging floodwaters washed out their home in the upland village of Sagunto here, the hardest hit in the province by destructive rains and flooding on Jan. 19.

Salinas said there was a general feeling of despair and hopelessness among residents because of the raging flood as the rescue team from the municipal government had a difficult time reaching their village.

Joan Cris Havana, a municipal social worker who hails from Sagunto, said rescue workers tried to reach the village in a motorboat and had difficulty navigating the waters because of strong currents.

The rescuers reached Sagunto at 1 p.m. after four hours of navigating through floodwaters.

It was just the second time in 36 years that Sagunto was hit by this type of disaster, so residents were caught by surprise when floodwaters started to rise after three hours of nonstop heavy rains.

Salinas’ father, Ponciano, 68, a farmer of root crops and fruits, recalled the last big flood in the town in 1981 when Sagunto was under water for days after heavy rains that continued for two months swamped the entire province.

But last week, it took only three hours of rain to put Sagunto and 12 other villages of La Paz under water.

What made it worse was the strong current of the flood, which officials believed came from Pantaron Mountain Range in the highlands of Bukidnon province.

At least 1,133 houses were destroyed in La Paz. At least 53 shelters were washed out in Sagunto while 42 of 46 homes in the lowland village of Angeles are gone.

Salinas said his parents scampered to safety at the public school that served as an evacuation center at around 10 a.m., grabbing only a few pieces of clothes and important family documents.

Floodwaters went knee-deep in their house while in other lower elevated parts of the village, only the roofs of houses are visible.

It was in Sagunto where the car of Vice Mayor Alberto Justo was wrecked after it was carried by floodwaters and slammed into walls while he was trying to rescue residents stranded in their homes at the height of the flooding.

The residents still recovering from the ordeal went into panic anew when heavy rains swept their village on Friday night. They, however, heaved a sigh of relief when the flood caused by the day-long rain did not damage more homes.

“The children and old folks were in panic mode again,” said Salinas. —CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN