SUPERTYPHOON Rolly damaged about 90 percent of Catanduanes’ infrastructure, officials said on Monday as teams of emergency, rapid assessment and communication personnel were sent to the province, isolated for the past two days due to lost communication signal.
The ferry boats that regularly carried people and vital supplies were also totally out of commission, prevented by fallen electric posts in Albay province—where they took shelter during the previous typhoon Quinta last week—from returning to Catanduanes.
The island province, hardest hit by the world’s most powerful typhoon so far this year which pummeled a big portion of Luzon over the weekend, has thus far tallied a total of 16 fatalities along with the province of Albay, both in Bicol region, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Region 5.
Emergency personnel, including a team of telecommunication experts from the OCD main office in Manila, were flown into Catanduanes by a Philippine Coast Guard BN Islander plane to extend initial assistance, establish communication lines and identify areas needing immediate search and rescue.
A Coast Guard helicopter followed to support the conduct of damage assessment and rescue operations, said Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo.
Rolly also interrupted power, water and communication services in the 11 municipalities of the province. Between 10,000 and 15,000 homes made from light materials were also destroyed by the typhoon, along with 80 percent of electric posts.
For several hours after Rolly hit Catanduanes, disrupted cell site services blacked out information. It was only after a team was deployed by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) that the national government obtained updates from Catanduanes Governor Joseph Cua via satellite phone.
Compared to damage caused by previous typhoons like Rosing in 1995 and Nina in 2016, Cua said Rolly wrought greater devastation to their province.
Lack of transportation
Cua sought help in restoring basic services in their province, particularly transportation.
He said the ferry boats that usually provided transport to and from their province took shelter in Albay when typhoon Quinta (international name: Molave) hit the Bicol region last week.
The ferries, however, were unable to resume operations after the fallen posts of an electric company in Albay blocked their routes.
Cua asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to remove the posts. He also asked DOE to help the Catanduanes electric cooperative in repairing their damaged electric posts.
Additional food packs
Cua said they need additional food packs since only around 2,000 packs are available—not enough for the 15,000 affected families.
Bottled water is also badly needed.
NDRRMC Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad said the national government will send additional food packs and bottled water to Catanduanes on Tuesday via a C130 plane.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said they will relay the plight of Catanduanes to President Duterte so he could act on it.
Infra, home damage
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police Deputy Chief for Operations Cesar Hawthorne Binag, who was in the same NDRRMC briefing, said 90 percent of Catanduanes’s infrastructure was destroyed by Rolly, citing the initial report of the police provincial director there.
Binag’s statement on the typhoon damage was supported by the Coast Guard based on the initial results of its aerial survey.
Philippine National Red Cross Chairman Senator Richard Gordon said at least 250 houses were damaged or destroyed in Catanduanes, but the figure may be a bit low as in the municipality of Pandan alone, at least 479 houses were damaged, according to a municipal councilor.
Guinobatan hard hit–Co
In Albay, Ako Bicol Party-List Rep. Zaldy Co said that at least 250 houses were buried in the town of Guinobatan by raging mudflow and hinted lives could have been lost.
As he visited devastated Albay towns in the afternoon, Duterte ordered an investigation into residents’ complaints that unmitigated quarrying in Guinobatan was a factor in the mudflows.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who steered the news briefing, said the report is already being looked into by disaster officials. The mayor of Guinobatan appealed for food and other emergency needs for residents while pleading for assistance in the relocation of the affected villagers.
The PNP said the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Naga City and 57 barangays of Masbate were without power.
The NDRRMC said Rolly affected 372,653 families or 2,068,085 individuals in Regions 1, 2, 3, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the National Capital Region.
Image credits: AP