I was born in Iloilo City (Jaro, to be specific) and most of my parents’ relatives still live there as well as in Bacolod City.
So when Typhoon Frank lashed at Panay Island over the weekend, I was very concerned about them. Our driver who had children there told me that the water rose so fast (up to their necks) that the children had to evacuate to neighbors on higher ground.
My brother forwarded to me a text from a relative who described the situation as “serious”. They have no phones, no electricity, no water. And they expect this situation to last several months. This sounded like a step back into the Dark Ages!
I just came from the Multiply blog of my niece and read through her account about how water rose 8-15 feet in Jaro in just 10-15 minutes (how could that be????). Friends of her Mom called to say that their relatives were stuck on trees as water swelled around their barangay. People were caught unaware; many were still having breakfast as the waters rose. So many lives lost, so many homes destroyed completely, so many people’s livelihoods shattered.
I do not have a complete picture yet of how our relatives there are. We are still trying to contact them one by one to check on their situation.
This site carries pictures of the storm’s aftermath in Iloilo. The scope of the devastation just leaves me without words. On TV earlier, I looked at Boracay and could not even recognize it as a tourist spot with pristine waters and white sandy beaches.
As we follow news of the ill-fated Sulpicio ship that sank and the number of passengers who died, even more questions are in my mind concerning the flash floods in Panay:
– How could torrential rains, no matter how strong, inundate such a wide area in just a few minutes?
– Was this a result again of illegal logging?
– Who should be held accountable, if ever illegal activities were behind the floods?
For now, I am helpless here in Manila. All I can do is pray for my family over there and hope they are able to weather this trial. Please pray with me for all those who lost loved ones and shelter and if it is within your means, help by donating your excess to the various institutions accepting them for the people of Panay.
I’m saddened about the flood that has unforgivingly sank Panay Island. I hope your family is safe there and my prayers be with you, Ate.
Jane: Thank you so much for your well wishes and prayers. 🙂
Hi I also have relative in Ilo-Ilo and fortunately we were able to call them last Saturday. They have no electricity and water but believe it or not my Aunt’s landline phone was still active that time. They said flood rushed inside their home about knee deep. They sat all day by the stairs with the landline phone with them, till now there’s still no electricity in their area but good thing the flood was gone.
Btw, I have a friend who went to Bora this weekend, the Media just exaggerated the news. That footage of Bora ruins was shot on Sunday morning by afternoon the place was back to normal. They immediately cleaned up the place due to the foreign visitors.
I hope your relatives are all right. Godbless 😉
Jane: How lucky your aunt was to have a working phone. And if Bora has recovered that soon, that is good news for those whose livelihoods depended on Bora. Hope your relatives are all safe. God bless too!
I featured the ship that sank in one of the articles in my blog and i’d like to extend my prayers to your country. I’ve been to manila before and its a lovely place; i hope the goverment realizes that and takes action before more lives are lost.
Jane: Thank you, Andy. I hope you can visit again and yes, this is a wake-up call that has been long overdue. Too bad it had to come at the expense of so many lives.
I’ve been doing my best to follow the news of this from the states, as I have a lot of relatives who all live in Ilo-Ilo… Stateside, 90% of the news is about the ferry, but I’m finding more luck finding information online from foreign news outlets…
I’ll pray for your family as I’ve been praying for mine, and I can only hope that my relatives in Ilo-Ilo can reach my relatives in Manila, so they can reach my relatives in the states, so we can find out if everyone is ok… I know that even when we DO hear something, it won’t be about all of them, but I’ll take any good news right now, ya know?
Jane: Thank you, Kat. And I hope your Iloilo relatives somehow find the means to contact the ones in Manila so you can all be at peace over there in the States.
I heard the news here in Holland ( i am dutch ). My wife comes from Dumangas, Calao and her family was also kneedeep in the water. We also heard stories of her friends in the same town who came very deep but so far as we know there were no fatalaties.
It is now the time for the filipino government to take responsability and do what they have to do and that is to protect their people! When you see the pictures and take in mind we have been there last february then you get a cold feeling to think of al the dead.
I hope all will be fine for the future!
Hi Jane,
My father and companions in Tabuc Suba, Jaro had to evacuate to the second floor of our kitchen (this floor was added after the big flood of early 2000’s). Floodwater was overhead height dowwnstairs.
In my hometown of Alimodian, the flood destroyed the bridge that crosses the Aganan River, that our President inaugurated with so much fanfare! Bridge and river shown in this photo:
I have not read much about all that happened. However, could it be possible that the floodgates of the dams were opened at the same wrong time? Should the dams have been left to overflow as designed, instead of releasing the water?
Who is to blame?
1) The corrupt Philippine politicians who do not manage the country well and let illegal loggers slide,
2) The unethical contractors who cheate the Filipino people by building infrastructure of below standards,
3) The Filipino people who voted and tolerate the above in the first place.
God Bless the Philippines!
WHAT WAS THE SITUATION ON THE DAY OF JUNE 23 & 24 OF 2008, THAT OF LAST WEEK IN THE AREA OF TABUC SUBA JARO & THE AREA OF MANDURRIAO, IN THE PHILIPPINES, REGARDING WHEN DID THE TYPOON END & WHEN DID THE FLOODING BEGIN & END, EXACTLY WHEN: I NEED THE DAY & TIME THAT THE FLOODING IF ANY, AS TO WHEN IT BEGAN AND WHEN IT ENDED: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME THAT SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN THE FLOOD BEGAN & ENED WHEN EXACLTY WHEN AS TO WHAT EXACT DAY & TIME & DATE; &, EXACTLY WHAT PART OF TABUC SUBA JARO IS FLOODED AND WHEN DID THE FLOOD BEGAN & END EXACTLY WHEN; AND, THE SAME WITH THE AREA OF MANDURRIAO, WHEN DID THE FLOOD BEGAN & END, EXACTLYWHEN & HOW BAD WAS/IS IT & WHAT PART OF TABUC SUBA JARO & MANDURRIAO IS/WAS FLOODED EXACTLY WHERE WHAT AREA & WHEN DID FLOOD BEGAN & END EXACTLY WHEN & WHAT DAY TIME: I NEED TO KNOW THE EXACT DAY & TIME THAT THE FLOOD BEGAN AND ENDED EXACTLY WHAT DAY & TIME: SOME1 TELL ME PLEASE.
I flooding occurred during a high tide then the Dingle dam gave up.Maybe that’s how it hit the outer districts because the water had no where else to go because the river was already high. About the inner district flooding like the Jaro and Mandurriao areas,you could probably blame those dumb city engineers long time ago (maybe the Ticao era as mayor) because they did not plan and construct a sufficient drainage for the city.Just look at the streets in General Luna and other streets on how narrow the were designed compared to wider streets of Bacolod. You can also blame the mayor for not doing his job properly by not checking on those poor drainage system the city have.But what can you, they are just too lazy to do their jobs.
Hi Jane!
Everything’s going back to normal here in our city and most of the provinces in Panay. Yes, typhoon Frank was the worst disaster to hit Iloilo and the damages are extensive but Ilonggos are fighters, we have managed to survive despite everything that has happened.
We are very grateful for all the people like you who have extended their help and those who have shown their care.
Thank you! 🙂
Jane: We fellow Ilonggos should really look out for each other and yes, we are resilient. Glad things are normalizing over there.
Been from Iloilo last week and yung mga tao dun prang ang lambing mgsalita.. 🙂