By John Clifford Lintao
ALBAY provincial government made a public call for help as Governor Al Bichara hinted on the need for food and housing assistance after the province got pummeled by consecutive typhoons.
According to the Office of Civil Defense, Tropical Cyclone Rolly, deemed as the world’s strongest storm so far this year and a super typhoon at its peak, killed 10 people in the Bicol region. But prior to that, typhoon Quinta also hit and inundated large swaths of the region.
The Albay provincial chief executive said that super typhoon Rolly left Albay in total mess. Rolly’s onslaught also left three fatalities in Guinobatan town, one in Daraga, one in Polangui and one in Malinao. As of this posting, disaster response teams on the ground have yet to find three other persons.
“‘Di namin ine-expect ‘yung lugar kasi di naman tinataamaan ng lahar ‘yun. Nag-overflow ‘yung lahar dahil malaki ‘yung deposit sa slope ng Mayon at s’yempre binugbog ng bagyo. Umapaw ‘yung kanal at nag-iba ang direksyon,” Bichara said.
Aside from housing assistance, the province needs food as its funds had already been depleted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kailangan natin dito pagkain. Wala na silang iha-harvest ngayon. ‘Yung palay. Dalawang bagyo sunuran. Mga vegetables sira na rin,” Bichara said.
“Lahat ng LGU (local government unit) gumastos sa COVID tapos may Quinta pa. Di tatagal, mauubusan kami rito. Kailangan talaga tulong galing sa national government.”
Rolly’s strong winds and intense rains also knocked down “almost 80 percent” of electrical posts in the first district, where it made its second landfall on Sunday morning, Bichara said.
Dr. Cedric Daep, chief of Albay Public Safety and Emergency and Management Office, said some areas in the province’s 3rd district such as Polangui remain inaccessible due to widespread flooding.
“It’s not passable even by heavy vehicles, military trucks,” Daep was quoted as saying in a television interview, adding that rescue operation and delivery of relief goods have been hampered.
Based also on their initial inspection, about 50 percent of houses in Albay’s 1st district was damaged while Rolly cut a swathe in the agriculture sector, Daep said.
Before the super typhoon battered Albay, the provincial government has evacuated more than 200,000 people.
Daep feared the toll could have been higher, particularly in areas buried by volcanic mud flows, had people not fled to safety.
“If not because of evacuation, I think we would have thousands or hundreds of people died in areas of Mayon because of lahar,” he said.