'Blindsided': Aid rushed to Cagayan, Isabela

No images? Click here   'WORST FLOOD IN 40 YEARS'  A family of five is forced to wait it out on their rooftop at Barangay Iraga, Solana town in Cagayan province as floodwaters rise on Friday night. Rescuers from The Philippine Coast Guard reached some of the trapped residents the following day. An aerial shot partially shows the magnitude of the calamity. - PHILIPPINE AIRFORCE     News Nation focused elsewhere when cries for help went online Until a barrage of online cries for help from Cagayan Valley peaked late Friday night, the nation’s attention was focused on other parts of Luzon that were directly hit by Typhoon “Ulysses,” (international name: Vamco) mainly Marikina City in Metro Manila, Rizal province, and the Bicol region. The following morning, the bigger picture of devastation finally emerged. Local officials in Cagayan province on Saturday sent out distress calls as Tuguegarao City and 24 of its 29 towns were submerged in floodwaters, two days after Typhoon Ulysses’ exit from the country, trapping thousands of residents on the rooftops and upper floors of their homes.-STORY BY MELVIN GASCON Read more: https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/@nickname19452911/csb_Np5oYVEKQUp_Lgn2vXAgsyOTTSgF_c7GIOwl8M7PivHudcqdTnysbkU2gzMhAu4v   Regions Yolanda's unlikely heroes TACLOBAN CITY—Before this Leyte provincial capital and regional center of Eastern Visayas was battered by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) seven years ago, many residents had been treating their mangrove forests as just part of the landscape. Girlie Obillo, 43, a resident of San Jose District, said mangroves then were cut either for firewood or to clear the path of a passing vessel, despite the absence of a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).—STORY BY JOEY GABIETA Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1360747/yolandas-unlikely-heroes   Lifestyle Dressing Diana In the fourth season of “The Crown,” which starts streaming today, we finally get to meet a character that fans of the hit Netflix show have been waiting for: Princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin). —STORY BY PAM PASTOR Read more: https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/@nickname19452911/csb_Np5oYVEKQUp_Lgn2vXAgs19Y-Gb6gZRqErJsJ2hy08S-muYQZhb3bed4NWvP0V5K     Sunday Biz Earning from learning, living and loving        Borongan City, Eastern Samar - Packs and jars of Triple L banana chips have been on the shelves of some I85 supermarkets all over the country since Sept. 2019, but only a few know that it comes from a factory in the remote village of Rizal in the 5th-class municipality of Quinapondan, Eastern Samar. —STORY BY CYRAIN CABUEÑAS Read more: https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/@nickname19452911/csb_Np5oYVEKQUp_Lgn2vXAgswTs89iaD8cIB51Ocd0BNqSk8MGKfwCvjR05Mc0I4t6g     Newsletter / Join us Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletters and get your latest news and important updates straight to your device. Subscribe     Extended! Shop Now   Banner story ‘We were blindsided’: Aid rushed to Cagayan, Isabela TUGUEGARAO CITY—Civil defense and local disaster officials on Saturday scrambled rescue teams to save thousands of people trapped in their homes, many on rooftops, appealing for help to escape rising waters as the worst flooding in four decades swept through northern Isabela and Cagayan provinces. The two provinces were spared from a direct hit by the recent parade of storms, but experienced heavy rains dumped by Typhoon “Rolly” (international name: Goni) and by an enhanced monsoon early this month.On Thursday, they felt the effects of the torrential rain from Typhoon “Ulysses” (international name: Vamco), which had submerged large areas of Metro Manila and Rizal province. Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said local governments were “blindsided” by the fury of Ulysses, the massive flood and the damage it caused. Mamba said the provincial government had prepared for the flood, warning residents and enforcing preemptive evacuations. Worst in 40 years But the volume and level of the floodwater were just so “enormous” even though no storm signal was raised over Cagayan and nearby provinces as Ulysses crossed Luzon, he said.Water discharged by Magat Dam in Isabela also contributed to the disaster that was the “worst in memory” since 1981, according to the governor. Village officials had gone around neighborhoods warning residents to prepare for evacuation as the gates of Magat Dam were opened. (See related story on Page A4)The floodwater rose fast, according to Estelle Bueno, 28, a resident of Barangay Ugac Norte in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan’s capital. Some streets were already flooded as early as 6 a.m. on Thursday and the water was knee-deep four hours later, she said. Bueno’s family evacuated to a nearby hotel. Her 50-year-old mother-in-law said this was the first time that their village was heavily flooded. In Barangay Linao, also in Tuguegarao, houses were still underwater on Saturday.Officials reported many families had been trapped on the roofs of their houses in 156 flooded villages in Tuguegarao as well as 24 other towns in the province since Friday. Many of those trapped had no food and water.“We are literally in a sea of floodwater—the biggest for the past 40 years,” said Rogelio Sending Jr., Cagayan provincial information officer. Most people in the national capital and the rest of the country learned about the massive flood that engulfed Cagayan Valley only on Friday night and Saturday morning when social media began to be swamped with posts reporting and showing pictures and videos of people huddled on rooftops. Screams for help One particular video stood out for showing a pitch-black screen, with no images of people, only frantic calls of “Help!” and “Rescue! Rescue!” in the background.Scores of netizens launched appeals for the government and the mainstream media to shift focus to Cagayan Valley. The hashtag #CagayanNeedsHelp trended on Twitter and Facebook. Francis Jorque, a photographer of the Cagayan provincial information office, said people who still had access to the internet turned to social media to call for help. Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III said 10 towns in the first district of Isabela were severely flooded. Fifty of 91 villages in the City of Ilagan and all villages in Santo Tomas town were underwater.“Villagers were caught by surprise. They did not expect that this was more damaging and wider in scale than the previous typhoons,” said Albano, who flew over the province on a helicopter to survey the extent of the flooding. After floodwaters swept through most of their towns and villages, Isabela and Cagayan declared a state of calamity on Friday.Rescue efforts were slowed down by intermittent rain and by live electrical lines, which killed a volunteer rescuer, officials said.Henry Kelly Villarao, a diver with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and his team braved the rising floods in Aparri town and traveled for three hours to conduct “critical rescue” operations in Tuguegarao on Friday.On their final rescue sortie, their speedboat snagged a live wire, killing the father of a 4-month-old boy. At least 43,838 families, or 174,940 people, were affected by Ulysses in Cagayan, and 36,060 families, or 144,241 people, in Isabela, according to officials.“We are doing the best we can to rescue stranded people but we have been hampered by strong water current,” said Michael Conag, information officer of the Office of Civil Defense in Cagayan. Soldiers were sent to Cagayan Valley on Saturday morning to augment relief and rescue operations.Marines from the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10, and the 77th and 17th Infantry Battalions started rescuing trapped villagers on Saturday. About 400 policemen were also mobilized for the rescue effort in Isabela. Robredo tweets Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday night said her office was “taking note of all calls for help and forwarding them to rescue teams on the ground.”Robredo, in a series of tweets on Friday night to early Saturday, said she coordinated with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police for possible rescue operations.According to Robredo, rescue teams faced strong flood currents. Some roads in Alcala town, Cagayan, were impassable due to either flooding or storm debris, which hindered one Army platoon from passing through, she said. “While waiting for augmentation to reach Tuguegarao, our team was able to get in touch with [the local police]. We forwarded all the compiled requests and calls for help. Limited assets now but [medical evacuation] will be prioritized,” Robredo said in a tweet. Rescue teams said that they were having difficulty conducting operations due to the number of people who had to be evacuated, according to the vice president. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescue teams on Saturday. brought generator sets and drums of fuel.PCG helicopters were also deployed for aerial extraction of the stranded residents, while a PCG islander plane was already in the area. The PNP also deployed 747 search and rescue personnel and 1,003 reactionary standby support force in the Cagayan Valley region, Roque said. The Northern Luzon Command of the AFP also shifted its efforts from counterinsurgency to search, rescue, retrieval and relief operations. Rubber boats needed The AFP has sent rubber boats and helicopters in the region, which still has impassable roads. More rescue personnel are on standby at the Villamor Air Base.The Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Health also provided relief assistance to the affected residents in the region. Motorized rubber boats were badly need by the rescuers. Some teams improvised by building rafts, Robredo said. Rescue work was hampered by the floodwaters that made multiple road sections in Cagayan impassable. The Department of Public Works and Highways on Saturday said many roads in the province were closed to traffic due to the “extremely high” water level of the Cagayan River, which inundated many towns in Cagayan and Isabela. Other major roads in various areas in Luzon also remain impassable or with only limited access due to the landslides, fallen trees and other debris, and flooding.  Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/   Extended! Shop Now   Editorial Paving the way for the once-excluded An NBC News exit poll of early and Election Day voters showed how Americans of color and of various ethnicities banded together to deliver for the Biden-Harris ticket. Fully 87 percent of Black Americans and 61 percent of Asian Americans voted Democrat in this month’s polls, as opposed to 41 percent of white voters. And observers say a huge chunk of those Democrat 'blue' votes were cast by women. A CNN commentary notes that 'the California senator’s history-making win also represents the millions of women in the demographics—often overlooked, historically underrepresented and systematically ignored—who are now the recipients of that new power for the first time in (the United States') 200-plus-year history.' But there are sobering realities, too, behind and beyond Harris’ historic electoral victory. 'That Harris is the first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect is both an affirmation of her excellence... and a reflection of the racism and sexism that punish women of color who run for executive office,' notes the CNN commentary. 'And while it’s true that Harris (has) achieved yet more firsts, it’s maybe more accurate to describe these firsts as onlys—she became the only female, only Black and only South Asian vice president-elect. That framing shines a less flattering light on America. But it’s more honest. It also hints at possibility—the possibility that Harris... opened up the door for women and girls who look like her to follow, to claim power for their own.'   Read full story: https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/@nickname19452911/csb_Np5oYVEKQUp_Lgn2vXAgs_7y_CZxyNnmuizefKlJ9b6dT4Lu25UpwBe_96MIaZX-   Copyright © 2020 PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: P.O. Box 2353, Makati Central Post Office, 1263 Makati City, Philippines.   Share    Tweet    Share    Forward  Preferences  |  Unsubscribe