Entire villages washed away

Entire villages in four towns in Davao Oriental have apparently been washed away by typhoon “Pablo,” an official said yesterday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Benito Ramos said the coastal towns of Cateel, Baganga, Boston and Caraga were severely hit by the typhoon.

“Structures like houses, hospitals, gymnasiums,schools and government offices were destroyed,” Ramos said in a phone interview.

Philippine Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said “houses were smashed to the ground, the plants are gone and even century-old trees were uprooted. It’s like they were wiped out. They are now like ghost towns.”

As of yesterday afternoon, the NDRRMC)said the death toll from Pablo has hit 714, with 890 still missing and almost 2,000 sustained injury.

Of the number of fatalities, 457 have been identified and turned over to their families, while 257 remained unclaimed.

Officials believe most of the unclaimed bodies were entire families wiped out by the storm, thus no one was left to attend to them.

Data from the NDRRMC showed Pablo displaced 64,942 families composed of 308,110 individuals. Of the number, 25,812 families or 116,404 persons remained in 134 evacuations centers.

“I have not seen this kind of sisaster in my 15 years of service with Red Cross,” Pang said, adding that residents have sought refuge in any structure available, even mausoleums.

“It seems like they are still in survival mode even after so many days. When we asked them what they need, they asked for basic necessities only like food. They are not yet thinking about their houses,” she added.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

http://m.philstar.com/headlines/show/eaed0a7a048c4ed2aad288c26d32c9ea&t=fv6ku4sj321eh8fut3k2kodb01