Post-disaster clearing teams overwhelmed by logs on Iligan coast

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines—The amount of logs that accompanied killer floods spawned by Tropical Storm “Sendong” here over a month ago was far more massive than what officials had estimated, according to some officials coordinating operations to remove the debris.

“There are more logs than we earlier thought,” said city administrator Pacificador Lluch.

According to Lluch, the manpower tasked to haul away the logs proved to be no match for the amount of logs that floodwaters dumped on a five-kilometer stretch of this city’s coast.

Only two teams equipped with two chainsaws were removing the logs and cutting these into housing materials for the thousands of residents whose homes were destroyed in the disaster.

Lluch said that at the rate the logs were being removed, the operation to clear the city’s coast of the massive debris could take at least a year.

At least 10 boats–each able to carry four logs per trip–were being used to haul the logs to a cove in Barangay Armac where these are processed into lumber.

The need to remove the logs—initially traced to forest destruction in Lanao del Sur–grows urgent each passing day in light of the hazards they pose to coastal communities and the environment.

Fishermen have complained that the logs clogging the coastline make it difficult for them to launch their boats, especially during low tide.

During high tide, waves turn logs into battering rams hitting their homes, the fishermen said.

In some coastal villages, the logs impede the flow of water in canals and creeks into the sea, making the areas vulnerable to flooding and raising health concerns over stagnant water, residents said.

Officials have tripled the workforce for the hauling operations and appealed for help from other government agencies and nongovernment groups.

According to city administrator Lluch, the coast of Barangay Armac would be turned into a log pond. “Lumber production will shift there,” he said.

The nongovernment group EcoWeb said it planned to lend a band saw to workers in Barangay Acmac to speed up the processing of the logs.

Aside from the logs that litter the city’s shores, residents and workers are also trying to remove “waist-deep” mud left on city streets in the wake of the disaster.

Councilor Simplicio Larazabal, official in charge of mud clearing operations, said the city hopes to be able to borrow more equipment from the Department of Public Works and Highways.