CDCC action center: Ondoy displaces 649 people; wrecks 212 houses
Relief operations for Ondoy stricken families in 6 barangays in the city continued yesterday as monitoring activities are being pursued by the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) led by Mayor Celso Lobregat.
The CDCC action center in City Hall as of press time recorded 6 (not 5) barangays as hardest hit by typhoon Ondoy (international code name: Ketsana) which battered Zamboanga City since Friday night until the whole day of Saturday. With Quezon Province as its epicentre, Ondoy, dumped heavy rains and packed strong winds that either submerged or swept away houses along riverbanks and low lying areas and coastal areas. These barangays include Tugbungan, Baliwasan, Tictabon, Putik, Ayala and Campo Islam.
Initially 212 houses were reported to have been affected with 214 families with estimated dependents of 649. Of the total houses affected, 11 were totally damaged and these were in Tictabon (8 houses), Ayala (2 houses) and Campo Islam (1 house) while 50 were partially damaged, of which 45 are located in Tictabon and 5 in Campo Islam.
As of press time, Baliwasan had the most affected number of houses and families with 94 houses and 94 families with 390 dependents; followed by Tictabon where 53 houses (with 53 families) located along the shorelines were affected by the huge waves caused by strong winds; third is Ayala where 37 houses with 37 families and 170 dependents were affected; Putik—18 houses with 18 families and 46 dependents; Campo Islam—6 houses affected with 8 families and 40 dependents and Tugbungan—4 houses with 4 families and 3 dependents.
Mayor Lobregat said the CDCC action center will continue to monitor other areas that might have been affected by the typhoon.
Meanwhile, some agencies have responded to the call for assistance to the affected families. The local police have pooled resources and turned over food packs to victims in Putik in the presence of Mayor Lobregat.
The Western Mindanao Command (WESTMINCOM) also turned over to the CDCC action center several packs of sardines and 1 sack of rice to help augment the relief goods.
Mayor Lobregat on Saturday morning made the rounds of the evacuation centers and flood-ravaged areas to see what other assistance could be provided to help alleviate the plight of the affected residents.
Aside from displaced families, flood-submerged homes and incidences in some coastal areas, the CDCC action center also received reports of uprooted trees due to strong winds in Abong-abong, Pasonanca; Suterville and some other areas, uprooted billboard near the local airport and the case of an international cargo vessel which ran aground on the breakwaters of R.T. Lim Boulevard.
Mayor Lobregat said the CDCC will continue to stay on alert for rescue and relief operations, for as long as the weather condition remains abnormal. He likewise urged residents residing along river banks and shorelines to seek safer grounds in cases of some warning signs.
Last weekend, the city was also battered by heavy rains and strong winds spawned by a low pressure area ravaging numerous barangays. (Sheila Covarrubias)