WITH over 28,539 individuals affected, hundreds of houses destroyed, and millions of pesos worth of damages in infrastructures, typhoon Odette has viciously made bleak the coming Christmas and New Year in the whole province of Southern Leyte.
The province’ capital Maasin City is 60% destroyed. It incurred heavy damage on infrastructures, buildings and facilities – government and private.
Mayor Nacional Mercado has initially placed damages to P500 million.
The emergency response of the local government has been effectively slowed after the prepositioned rice for relief packs have been soaked.
The city gymnasium where the over 1000 packs of relief goods were stored has been heavily damaged.
While President Rodrigo Duterte has made it to the city afternoon on day 2 of the aftermath, the national government could not immediately send help.
Except for the Baybay-Maasin route which was immediately cleared from debris, felled trees and electric posts on day 1, all the other routes to the southern province have remained inaccessible for days, and this made particularly hard for the provincial local government to assess the real situation on the other 18 municipalities that were as badly hit as Maasin.
State of calamity
The province of Southern Leyte has one city and 18 municipalities.
On Monday, after finally getting initial reports on the extent of destruction Odette had mercilessly wrought, Governor Damian Mercado declared the entire Southern Leyte under State of Calamity.
The declaration is expected to hasten the rescue, relief, recovery, and rehabilitation efforts, and ensure the provision of basic services.
“All provincial offices and other concerned government agencies are hereby directed to implement and execute rescue, recovery, relief, and rehabilitation work in accordance with the pertinent operational plans and directives,” Mercado said.
The declaration includes the putting of price ceiling on basic necessities and prime commodities.
With the order expected to be immediately imposed, relevant agencies are required to monitor and stop overpricing, profiteering, and hoarding of food, medicines, and fuel.
Nominal deaths
While Typhoon Odette was no inferior of a typhoon as compared to Super Typhoon Yolanda almost 8 years ago which left Region 8 with over 6,200 deaths and several hundreds more missing, it cost at least 13 deaths - one in Saint Bernard, three in Malitbog, one each in Tomas Oppus, Macrohon, and Padre Burgos.
Southern Leyte provincial disaster risk reduction and management council claimed there are 6,689 individuals in evacuation centers in Maasin City; 2,655 in Macrohon; 3,440 in Padre Burgos; 207 in Limasawa; 132 in Malitbog; 379 in Tomas Oppus.
Also, 1,369 in Bontoc; 4,864 in Sogod; 1,149 in Libagon; 327 in Liloan; 1,661 in San Juan; 481 in Anahawan; 261 in Hinundayan; 1,132 in Hinunangan; 1,544 in Silago; 1,369 in Pintuyan; and 880 in San Ricardo town.
Currently, electricity in the entire province is still down, rendering all mobile phone signals unavailable.
On December 16, Typhoon Odette made its third landfall in Liloan town after it initially unleashed its power pack winds of 195 kph near the center and gust of up to 270kph in the islands of Siargao and Dinagat respectively.
It subsequently made its fourth landfall in nearby Padre Burgos town before unleashing its wrath in Central Visayas.
Cries for help
The Opinyon News Team who made it to Maasin on day 2 has seen what seemed like a repeat of Yolanda eight years ago.
Along the littered stretch of the battered city of Maasin can be seen the familiar hand-printed bold texts cries for help: “NEED HELP: FOOD & WATER PLEASE!” hanging and or mounted on damaged porches.
The sight looks like that of the tragic Yolanda disaster.
But more of the silent but deafening calls for help have remained unheard and unattended until after the next few days when finally, the blocked roads were made accessible again.
“We only have a limited number of resources. We need food, water, and clothing, stores were impacted by the typhoon, and our resources are currently limited,” a netizen’s post read in his fb account, apparently calling in for kind hearted people for help.
Help pours in
The Police Regional Office 8 was among the first to get to the heavily devastated island municipality – Limasawa, to bring in relief goods for the typhoon victims.
Police Regional Office 8 Director Police Brig. Gen. Romel Cabagnot said ‘aside from the food packs, the regional police command will deploy 50 policemen in the area to secure peace and order in the island.
Reports had it that around 1,729 families or 6,426 individuals in the island town were affected by the typhoon.
While the town had only accounted one casualty, and 11 individuals injured, over 90% of the houses in the island municipality were totally damaged.
LGU-Tacloban scrapped its scheduled Christmas Party and instead enjoined its personnel to donate for Odette-stricken Southern Leyte.
"At a time like this, a little light can make a difference; and we hope to reach as many communities as possible before Christmas," said OIC-HRMDO Atty. Annaliza Quiliope.
A contractor’s association in Leyte have also chipped in help, this as other private and non-government organizations in Tacloban City and Leyte have rallied ranks to help back for the battered neighboring province.
Later last week, more help had finally started to arrive in the city.
Hard hit towns
A number of Leyte towns, particularly the municipalities of Matalom and Bato (neighboring towns of So. Leyte) have also incurred extensive damage by Super Typhoon Odette. “So many homes destroyed, so many dreams crushed,” Leyte Vice- Governor Carlo Loreto said in a post.
The towns of Baybay, Hilongos and Hindang also suffered the typhoon’s brunt.
Some coastal barangays in the towns of Abuyog, Dulag, Tolosa and Tanauan had minor surges of waves.
In an emphatic appeal to friends, Leyte Vice-Governor Carlo Loreto said that it is not only Cebu, Maasin and Bohol, which have been devastated by Super Typhoon Odette but also small towns like Matalom and Bato in Leyte.
They were hardly hit too, he said. “Hope you'll find it in your heart to help small towns like Matalom and Bato.”
While the brunt of Odette was clearly felt in a number of Leyte coastal municipalities, it’s not clear if the province under Governor Dominic L. Petilla will likewise be placed under similar state of calamity like that of Southern Leyte.