BY JOSEPH PEDRAJAS
A 37-year-old man from Quezon City who just drove his uncle back home in Albay on Sunday was trapped inside a mall for more than 10 hours, witnessing how super typhoon “Rolly” wreaked havoc.
Celson Baring Mok See and some 15 other individuals, including the security guards of the mall in Polangui town where he was trapped, saw how the ferocious wind brought by the typhoon shattered the mall’s glass doors and destroyed its ceilings.
“Nakakatakot. Hindi mo mawawari ‘yung pakiramdam. Akala mo katapusan na ng mundo, ‘yung lakas ng hangin, hindi ko ma-describe. Umuugong s’ya, umuugong,” Mok See shared in an audio call while still trapped inside the mall.
“Yung hangin n’ya, mayroong halong parang maitim na usok. Hindi ko masabi, kasi wala namang nagsiga dito. Tapos basa naman na ‘yung daan, di mo masabi na maalibok. Baka siguro galing sa kisame ng mall,” he added.
According to him, the height of the onslaught happened at around 8 a.m., the time the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) raised storm signal No. 5 in the province.
Mok See and the other individuals hid in an empty store, which was still under construction, and moved to a comfort room until the strong winds subsided by 11 a.m.
In videos he uploaded on his Facebook account, pieces of wood were seen flying as the typhoon struck.
“Problema namin dito, pagkain talaga,” Mok See said in his Facebook live while showing the debris caused by the typhoon inside the mall.
Mok See asked the security guards at around 4 a.m. to let him stay as the road leading to his friend’s house in Oas town, where he was supposed to stay, was already blocked by toppled electric lines.
And since then, he had not yet eaten his lunch as they could not go outside due to waist-deep flood.
Scenes like these were also experienced by residents of other towns and provinces in the Bicol Region that bore the brunt of the typhoon.
In Legazpi, Tiwi and Camalig, among others, a surging flood engulfed the streets, which was made worse by a broken dike in Sogong Ilawod.
Although many residents were already evacuated, some were seen wading through the floods as they returned home, Moomina Dimapinguin of Legazpi City said.
In Camarines Sur, Josh Delloro of Barangay Concepcion Grande in Naga City said that the roofs of a cotton and alcohol warehouse near their house were blown away while trees were uprooted by the strong wind.
“9 a.m. ‘yung strongest. Para kaming bino-blower,” he said.
Julianne Lola, Delloro’s friend who lives near a rice paddy in Barangay Pacol, said that the whole field was already submerged in flood. There, the intensity of the wind that hit the area defied description as trees were already bending to the ground.
