‘Pablo’spares San Carlos
But leaves Mindanao devastated
Typhoon Pablo left 274 dead, based on initial reports, but spared San Carlos City from damages and casualties. Countless others are missing in Compostela Valley.
Although a total of 1,026 persons (or 249 families) left their homes and evacuated after City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor, Jr. issued an order for preemptive evacuation on the afternoon of December 4, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRM) reported no casualties due to the tropical storm that hit the Visayas and Mindanao areas.
Early start
At 11:00PM on December 4, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) placed Negros Occidental, including San Carlos, under Signal No. 3, with a maximum sustained winds of 101-185 kph. But while the rains were still lightly pouring on and off, residents of coastal areas already started to evacuate. And government trucks were on stand-by on the highway to Sitio Maluluy-on in preparation for massive evacuation. The relief goods for key evacuation centers had been delivered and those for Barangays San Juan and Ermita were delivered on December 3, before Pablo even made his landfall.
The first recorded evacuations were from Barangay VI. They evacuated to Cong. Vicente Gustilo, Sr. Memorial School (CVGSMS) and from Barangay Punao to Talave Elementary School. After Valmayor issued the preemptive evacuation order, Talave Elementary School housed the most refugees at 90 families or 374 heads.
No classes
Classes had been suspended on December 4. While some private school administrators like Tañon College took the initiative to send their students home early in the morning upon learning that San Carlos was already under Signal No. 2, some schools needed to be visited by the LGU's information office team before dismissing the students. Valmayor also announced over the two FM stations in the city by 10:30AM that classes are suspended until the typhoon signal is officially lifted.
As the rains finally abated in the morning of December 5, while Pablo is already at 180 km East of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Valmayor ordered that evacuees may start to return home.
Death toll rises in Mindanao
But the relative calm in San Carlos is the exact opposite of the devastation in Compostella Valley where 42 were initially reported dead due to flashflood. Sixty-six soldiers are still unaccounted for when their command post of Charlie Company of 66th Infantry Battalion at Barangay Andap, New Bataan got swept by the raging flood.
Compostella Valley Gov. Arturo Uy confirmed in a December 4 interview with GMA News TV that 33 people drowned in the same town as flooding "unexpectedly" reached the barangay hall and health center which were already on high ground.
Other reported deaths were those of residents and a motorist who had been hit by uprooted coconut trees.
Strongest
The typhoon with international name "Bopha" made its landfall at Baganga town in Davao Oriental before dawn on December 4 and moved quickly west northwest to southern areas of the Visayas causing power shut down in Negros Oriental. It has a diameter of 500 km, that covered almost the entire Mindanao on the satellite image. PAGASA confirmed that Pablo is the "strongest" typhoon to hit the 'Land of Promise' in two decades.
No trips
More than 3,430 passengers of 93 interisland vessels were stranded as the Philippine Coast Guard suspended the trips of all sea vessels including the ferries from San Carlos to Toledo City, Cebu, vice versa, and the motorboats to Sipaway Island. As of press time, the travel ban for sea vessels has not been lifted yet.
CDO
In Cagayan de Oro, 25,000 people were evacuated to 51 centers when the river rose to 10 feet beyond its normal level at past 2 PM on December 3 according to the city information office.
With reports from: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/318449/typhoon-pablo-pounds-mindanao
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