This is the common sentiment of those living at the flood-prone Jade Valley Homes in Barangay Tigatto here.

Jade Valley Homes sits beside the Davao river, which overflows when strong rains come, thus flooding the communities along its banks.

Romeo Amistad is aware that the subdivision where he lives is prone to flooding, even before he decided to buy a house at the place. But since he had no other place to move in, he admitted that his family assumed a foreclosed property at the subdivision four years ago through the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF, or Pag-IBIG).

“We were looking for an affordable house, so we chose this place,” he said.

Amistad, who used to live with his in-laws in the Ecoland area, said it was his son, a call center agent in the city, who acquired the property.

They learned that the previous owner was disheartened by the frequent flooding and eventually stopped paying the monthly amortization.

Amistad said his son Weng now pays the monthly amortization of P2,300.

“We were told by the real estate agent that the flood will never happen again,” Amistad said. “But what happened on Sunday, according to our neighbors, was even worse than the flood in 2002,” the puppy vendor lamented.

The Amistad house is 10 meters away from the edge of the riverbank. There is yet another house closer to the river, but it was abandoned by the owner two years ago because of the frequent flooding.

Over the danger level

Last Sunday’s flood did not only submerge the houses close to the river, but even those as far as a kilometer away.

Yet another Jade Valley resident, Berly Bautista, said that he too assumed the house. The previous owners, relatives of the Bautista family, moved to another place after the flood in 2002.

The Bautista home is much farther from the riverbank, around 300 meters away. They, too, admitted they were aware of the flooding in the past. “But we have no other place to go, ” said Bautista.

In one of the concrete posts, his relatives left a mark about five feet high, which reads: “Danger level.”

“That means if the floodwater would almost reach that mark, we should evacuate,” he said while scraping the mud from the pavement at the gate.

The flood on Sunday, Bautista added, was higher by almost a foot than in 2002. Residents of Jade Valley Homes told MindaNews that floodwaters in 2002 reached as high as five feet.

On Saturday evening, Davao’s Central 911 already issued a warning to those living along the banks of the Davao River that water level may rise due to heavy rains.

But when the water rose to chest level, many of the residents were trapped on roofs or in the second floor of their houses. Forced evacuation started around midnight that Saturday.

The morning after, the Army, Central 911, police and rescue volunteers used jet skis and rubber boats to rescue those who were trapped.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) reported that some 2,000 families or about 40,000 persons from 15 barangays were affected by the floods.

Worst than 2002

Bonifacio Gustosani Jr., 50, said Sunday’s flood was the worst he has experienced. Born and raised in Tigatto, he said the Davao River has been overflowing even before the subdivision was built.

His house is about 80 meters away from the river, but still, they were not able to save their belongings, including appliances, because the water rose too fast. They had to run to higher ground, to the highway, which is 50 meters away.

Rowena Padogdog, in her mid 40s, also failed to save her belongings. She said that after the big flood in 2002, there were floods every year, but only up to the knees. When the water rose chest level on Saturday evening, they sought refuge in the second floor of their neighbor’s house.

No choice

But amid the frequent flooding, Padogdog said they will not leave Jade Valley Homes since they have nowhere else to go. “We have no choice but to stay,” she said.

By dawn of Monday, floodwaters started to recede, residents said. But some parts of the subdivision remain flooded with knee-deep waters.

Like Padogdog, Amistad is also left with no choice but to stay.

But he added that if the city government will decide to relocate them, he would be willing to accept it.

“But if not, we will just stay here,” Amistad said. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Hundreds of people — including survivors and relatives of those who perished — gathered 40 days since super typhoon Pablo hit on December 4, 2012. A mass was offered for the victims on January 13 at the San Antonio de Padua Parish as well as at the San Roque Chapel in Brgy Andap.

While a ritual was also held at Brgy Andap, particularly at the former barangay center site, which is now covered with rocks and boulders due to a flashflood spawned by typhoon Pablo.

A month after super typhoon Pablo devastated New Bataan town in Compostela Valley province, survivors are slowly picking up the pieces to rebuild their lives.

The first time I passed this route was in December 2007. I was traveling from Boston back to Davao City.  I could still remember the lush surrounding along the road. But on December 21 — 17 days after Typhoon Pablo — all you could see are fallen trees, broken trunks, landslides and water is almost everywhere. One more heavy rain and more portions of the road will collapse.

An approximate path of the flashflood that wiped out barangay Andap proper in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province as Typhoon Pablo makes a landfall in nearby province of Davao Oriental on December 4, 2012. This illustration is based on the testimonies of the survivors I have interviewed. This is also based on the photographs I have taken before and after the flashflood.

The flashflood left thousands of people homeless, as it also destroyed the productive farmlands of this valley town.

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Typhoon Pablo devastated almost half of the Mindanao island on December 4, leaving at least 900 people dead and almost a thousand others missing. This is perhaps the worst natural disaster that hit the supposed “typhoon-free” region. The storm left thousands of people homeless and in dire need of food, water, medicine and shelter.

In fact, “God” was the only word that the junior officer recalled uttering that time while struggling to resurface from the raging waters in Barangay Andap, New Bataan in Compostela Valley province, one of the hardest hit areas of the typhoon.

Recuperating from various wounds at a military hospital here, the 26-year old officer recalled his tormenting experience after they were washed away by flashflood on December 4.

Nuas said strong winds awakened him to see that their huts were already damaged. He was among the company-sized soldiers living in huts made of light materials beside the Catholic chapel in Barangay Andap.

“I was already up at around 4 a.m. because of the strong winds. But the rain was just moderate,” said Nuas, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 2012.

At around 6 a.m., rampaging waters have already inundated Barangay Andap, and the people were already scampering to higher grounds, recalled Nuas, who suffered gashes all over his body.

But many were trapped in their houses, trees and any concrete structures that they could hold for their lives.

Due to the flashflood, his colleagues have gathered the people at the barangay hall, while some have already boarded the military vehicle for evacuation, he recounted.

Truck turns up side down

“When the truck negotiated the flooded road for few meters, a wave of water rammed the vehicle and throw away the people,” Nuas said, adding the remaining soldiers scampered to save the villagers and their colleagues since the vehicle was already upside down.

The Army officer said their priority was to help the people from being swept away by the raging waters.

Nuas added that they even had no time to secure some of their equipment since the water rose too quickly.

He also recalled that some of the soldiers and villagers rushed inside the nearby chapel. “Some soldiers and the civilians survived, but I think some civilians also drowned.”

When MindaNews showed him photos of the wiped out Andap village, he was stunned to see the chapel’s altar still intact amid the devastation around it.

The walls of the chapel were made of concrete and light materials. The front part was totally destroyed.

Villagers praying and crying

While gathered at the concrete barangay stage, Nuas noticed that many people were praying and crying as the raging waters came wave by wave.

“As the raging waters started to rise up to our hips while we were on the platform, one of my men told me that it’s time to cross the water and look for a higher ground,” he recalled.

Nuas and three of his men jumped into the water in the hope to reach a higher ground, hoping to get back to help the villagers who remained at the barangay hall. But the water current was already very strong and they were carried away.

The Army officer, who hails from Quezon City, said he was carried away along with logs and rocks that hit him all over his body. Then he found himself underwater.

“The only word I was able to say was God, and seconds later I was already afloat as if somebody pushed me up to the surface amid the raging waters,” Nuas narrated.

While afloat, he prayed that he would not be hit again by another wave of water as he struggled to swim to safety.

Eventually, the water carried him to a standing coconut trunk where he held on and was later joined by a colleague, Private First Class Arbet Puyonan.

Two of their colleagues were later recovered dead few kilometers away.

As they eventually reached the higher ground, Nuas said a gay villager rescued them. They were taken into a house and given food and clothing. “Our clothes were torn. My whole body was aching as I was having a rest in the hut.”

The young officer said he is very lucky that he had no fractured bones, unlike Puyonan who was airlifted to a military hospital in Manila due to the extent of injuries he suffered.

Many villagers were swept away

Nuas could not exactly recall how many people sought refuge on the concrete platform, as some of them were on the rooftop, before they crossed the floodwaters. “I could no longer remember the exact figures because everything happened so fast.”

But he said many have sought refuge in the two-story barangay hall, which was also swept away.

The local disaster desk in New Bataan recorded 327 fatalities while 457 others remained missing. Most of them are from Barangay Andap.

Love the first assignment

Once fully recovered, Nuas said he would love to be back in New Bataan since it is his first assignment. He was deployed just in July this year.

“I promised to myself to be back in New Bataan and to love my first assignment,” he said, occasionally grimacing in pain.

Nuas said he was lucky to have survived given the magnitude of the flashflood.

However, he felt so bad that many of the people and his colleagues were not able to survive Pablo’s fury. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Animals do too.

HOMELESS, TOO Typhoon Pablo’s wrath did not only leave humans homeless but animals, too. Like these dogs sharing some space with their masters at the evacuation center in Compostela town in Compostela Valley province. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco

Like humans, companion pets such as cats, dogs and farm animals were also rendered homeless when Typhoon Pablo devastated several towns in this province, Davao Oriental, Agusan del Sur and other provinces.

Aside from sharing spaces with their masters in cramped evacuation centers and makeshift tents, they also share the limited food aid.

Vilma Islaw, 48, of barangay Samuag here, told MindaNews that their house was destroyed by strong winds brought by the typhoon on December 4.

Islaw said they were not able to save most of their belongings, but they were able to save their eight-year old dog named Miong, an asong Pinoy or Aspin.

“We could not just leave Miong because he has been with us for so long, my two children love him as well as my granddaughter,” she said.

The family, like many others, has been depending on food aid a week after the storm, with Islaw noting, “We are sharing whatever food we have to our pet.”

Unlike Islaw who was able to take her dog to the evacuation center, 81-year old Portia Villocino almost lost her 10 dogs when flood hit their village.

Four of her dogs are two-month old puppies.

Villocino, a former village chief of Samuag, told MindaNews that she had feared that her dogs and their other farm animals may have drowned in the flood.

Along with her husband, the dogs were rescued at around 6 a.m. on December 4.

Since the water was deep and the current strong, they can do little but unleashed all the dogs and left them in an elevated part of their house.

“I thought they were drowned or carried away by the water. But I’m glad that they survived,” said Villocino, who returned to their house in the afternoon and found her pets alive.

But she lamented that the flood washed away around 20 of their chickens. “But the ducks survived, they were carried away somewhere else when the water was still raging. But they were able to return home the following day.”

Both Islaw and Villocino said they are sharing the food aid that they got to their pets.

As this developed, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) appealed to individuals and various groups extending assistance for typhoon victims to also donate food for the animals.

“We are asking local citizens, private groups and NGOs (non-government organizations) to provide feeds for the animals so that these affected communities would not have to slaughter their animals or have their animals go hungry,” appealed May Razon, a campaign specialist of PAWS.

Razon added that the typhoon victims themselves should not go hungry just because they need to share their food with the animals.

She also noted that some livestock animals are already starting to lose their body mass, hence, it will affect their prices when sold in the markets.

Razon likewise stressed the importance of farm animals like carabaos since they are helping the farmers till the farms.

PAWS, along with Jennifer Gardner of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, visited typhoon-affected towns in this province, in Davao Oriental and Veruela in Agusan del Sur on December 10 to 12 to assess the impact of the typhoon on companion animals and livestock.

In Barangay Sinobong in Veruela, Barangay Captain Adela Matuod disclosed that at least 200 dogs were washed away by the flashflood last week.

Matuod said the owners were not able to unleash their dogs when the flood came, as the villagers panicked to save themselves.

She said it has been a policy in their village to chain all the dogs to avoid dog bite incidents.

Razon advised the villagers to unleash their animals in times of disasters, such as flood, because they have greater chances of survival if unchained. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

What was once the center of Barangay Andap in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province is now a new riverbed with an estimated width of nearly a kilometer stretching up to eight kilometers down to the town proper. Mindanews Photo by Ruby Thursday More

This town is known in the province for its natural spring resorts in Barangay Andap, which is seven kilometers from the town proper.

What was once a green landscape of coconut trees and agricultural crops is now swathed with nearly a kilometer-wide of boulders and rocks that stretch down to the poblacion area.

From a distance, it looks like a dried up riverbed since you could only see greyish rocks. But moving closer, one would hear the raging murky waters of the newly-carved waterway.

The new waterway is about 10 meters wide and the current strong as seen on Thursday.

Rene Paglingkod, in his 50s, recalled that they were aware that a storm was coming, but they did not expect that it could wipe out the neighborhood in the barangay proper.

“This was the basketball court of the barangay,” Paglingkod pointed to a portion of concrete pavement, “the rest of barangay-owned structures are gone.”

Another villager, who did not give his name, said he was wondering where the rocks came from.

“This barangay is productive, there were many farms here. We don’t know where these [rocks] came from. We only saw boulders or rocks like these before along the Mayo River,” he told MindaNews.

Paglingkod said there were three natural spring resorts just half a kilometer away from the barangay hall.

But as of Friday, not even a marker was visible that could serve as a reminder of where the resorts used to stand.

“But for those who are familiar with the location of the resorts, especially Bamboo Resort, it’s beside that ridge,” Paglingkod pointed to the western part of the mountain range.

From the devastated barangay proper, the bed of rocks is still visible for nearly four kilometers down to neighboring barangays.

Only a portion of the concrete road is left, spanning only about 20 meters. The road leads to Maragusan town, 50 kilometers away.

The rocks and water virtually swept away everything on its path on Tuesday morning when Pablo struck.

The only remaining structure standing on the edge of the new riverbed is a chapel, with the altar still intact.

But all the structures around it were completely destroyed.

Beside the chapel, Paglingkod said, was an Army detachment that was also swept away, killing four soldiers. Five others were still missing as of Thursday.

The two rivers

Before the flashflood, Paglingkod said there were two rivers that flow on the periphery of Andap—the Batoto and Mayo rivers.

Batoto flows in the eastern side of the village while Mayo flows on the western side. Both rivers also flow beside mountain ranges.

“When the flashflood hit, it became as if one massive river and swept away our neighbors,” he recounted.

When the flashflood subsided about three hours later, Paglingkod said the Mayo River carved its new way in the middle of the boulders that swathed the barangay proper.

Batoto River, on the other hand, carved a path through the coconut plantations and agricultural crops, then traversed the concrete road. Rocks and other debris piled up on the road making it difficult for vehicles to pass.

“The original riverbed is already dead, it’s just like we have a new river. Nobody wants to live on top of those rocks and beside this new river,” Paglingkod said.

Impossible but it happened

In Purok 4 of the poblacion, rocks and floodwater also swept away dozens of houses.

What was once a community underneath coconut trees and some cornfields is now a new riverbed.

Apparently, it is an adjoining new riverbed from Barangay Andap.

Solito Mahilom, 64, recalled that near his house was a cornfield of his neighbor.

“Of course, our purok (hamlet) looks green because of the corn, grass, flowers and the coconut. But now everything is gone,” said Mahilom, who has been living in the area since 1974.

“It looks impossible but it happened,” he said, referring to the devastation wrought by Pablo.

Even from the town proper, the wrath of the storm was evident on the mountain ranges as the trees appeared like match sticks since their branches are gone.

At the town proper, many trees were also felled while some that withstood the typhoon’s fury have no more branches at all.

Muddy streets

At the town proper, most of the major streets were filled with mud, but the major roads have been cleared Friday, when President Benigno Aquino III visited the town to hand cash assistance and relief goods to the typhoon victims.

Knee-deep mud also covered the town plaza, public market and the terminal. Motorcycles could hardly negotiate because of the mud, while some portions have already become a waterway.

Mayor Lorenzo Balbin told MindaNews that it would take some time before his town could recover from the tragedy. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Source: Mindanews