Dear Friends and Partners,
On the day that Typhoon Yolanda made landfall in the Visayas region, the worst had finally passed for our home in Cagayan de Oro. Our beloved city, which has been the base for Balay Mindanaw’s operations since 1996, has had its share of tragedy in the form of flood brought in by the Tropical Storm Sendong in 2011. Since then, we have found it vital to prepare ourselves for times like these. Prior to the arrival of Typhoon Yolanda, we had already made preparations for it: doing proactive evacuation in Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog City, prepositioning packed relief goods at the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center, provided support to DRRMCs, among other things. We were relieved that our areas were spared of the bulk of Typhoon Yolanda’s wrath.
However, our hearts again go out to those affected in the Visayas region. After hearing word of Yolanda’s effects, particularly in Tacloban City where most of the media have flocked, many of us here in Balay Mindanaw have said that it seems that the damage is like that of Tropical Storm Sendong and Typhoon Pablo (that hit Davao Oriental in 2012) combined.
Hence, we decided immediately to send a Quick Assessment Team to Leyte and Panay. The goods we have prepositioned, plus some of the excess goods (blankets, mosquito nets, medicines) from Bohol will be going to areas affected by Yolanda.
Just this morning, we have received word from our team doing assessment in Ormoc. The team is composed of Maritess Puspus of KPMFI, Myrna Siose of the VOICE Network, and Ed Cox and Christine Cassar of Disaster Aid International. Here is what they have gathered:
—
IN ORMOC CITY
The QAT team in Ormoc will be hosted by Atty. Larrazabal-Quilang and family. They have been facilitating our links and connections here in Ormoc and have been guiding us around town.
General Observations:
– Ormoc has been described as one of the hardest hit cities. It is composed of 110 barangays. 29 are accessible within the city and 50 are accessible through motorbike. The rest are interior barangays still not accessible due to their location in highlands/mountain areas. The city has a total population of 240,000.
– Virtually all houses were affected and damaged. Some were collapsed, some were wrecked and a few were blown out. Trees were pulled out of the ground and electricity was down. (The scenario is like Davao Oriental when we first got there.)
– All businesses/malls are closed
– Classes were suspended for the next two weeks
– Globe and Smart connections are back though some areas still have little to no signal.
– We have no data yet to quantify the # of families affected. However, we have information that there have been 21 deaths and 106 major injuries.
– Of the 4 hospitals, only two hospitals are accepting patients. (The other two include a private hospital which has closed down, while the other has collapsed.)
Networking/Groundworking:
– We have met up with Congresswoman Lucy Torres- Gomez and her husband Richard Gomez. The QAT was humbly entertained by them and we exchanged thoughts and views on how to help and who to connect with.
– Richard Gomez shared his contact, Col. Raffy Valencia who he suggested could help us out with relief distribution and security.
– We were able to meet up with the Mayor Edward Codilla at the City Hall.
– We also had a conversation with Vice Mayor Camilo “Toto” Locsin, Jr. He expressed the need for coordinating and organizing disaster response, and in an exchange of expertise.
– Human resource were observed to be very active but only they lack the system/information/framework esp post disaster activities.
– The operations center (a coordination between the city government, the military and the police) is located at the City Hall. All relief goods are coordinated directly to the City Hall.
– Councilor Pedro Godiardo “Godi” Ebcas is acting as chairman of the CDRRMC committee ON public safety will be the point person in the area.
Top Priority Needs Identified:
– Food and water
– Medicines and Medical Personnel
– Fuel
– Tarpaulin/Tents
– Infant Food
* Cebu is the nearest location where we can access resources
Other Needs Include:
– Generator Set
– Solar Lights
– Heavy Equipment
– Basic Clearing Tools and Equipment
Evacuation Sites Include:
– Ormoc Central Schools (the largest evac centers with around 900 families)
– Ormoc National High School
– Eastern Visayas State University
– Cogon Central School
– Super dome
– Barangay evacuation Centers
They centers catered 7,800 evacuees or around 1,400 families. However, the number is decreasing due to families who are slowly moving back to their homes.
Water Supply:
– The City Government is providing the rations of water around the city.
– There are only 3 pumping stations. It is hard to sustain these due to lack of fuel.
Other agencies noted to be on the ground:
– Department of Energy
– Manila DPWH and MMDA
– USAID (represented by Ben Hemmingway)
– Plan International (represented by Nancy Ebuega)
IN PALO, LEYTE
Here, we met up with Parish priest Gr. Gilbert Orbino of the Saints Peter and Paul Parish who emotionally described Palo, Leyte as a “howling wilderness.” He said that all churches were devastated and that seminaries have collapsed.
General Observations:
– A pile of dead bodies is located within the vicinity, and these have already started to decompose.
– Houses in this area were washed out and/or collapsed.
– The mountains have been denuded and stripped clean of coconut trees.
– Hospitals in this area were closed.
Priority Needs:
– Food
– Water
– Shelter
– Medicines and Medical Teams
PLANS:
– Quick assessment of Tacloban City.
Thank you very much and we will keep you updated.
We Refuse to be Victims, We Choose to be Resources.