By JOSEPH PEDRAJAS
Parts of Cagayan province went pitch-black early Saturday morning due to power outage as loud cries of “tulong! tulong!” and “rescue, rescue!” were heard from residents – some of them already on their rooftops – amid the rising flood that made the province look like the “Pacific Ocean.”
This came after Magat Dam, one of the country’slargest dams, left the communities completely submerged in flood when it opened its gates to release waters before reaching its spilling level, which was triggered by the previous typhoons.
“Talagang catch basin po kami, buong region. Since valley po itong Cagayan, lahat po ng tubig galing sa Cordillera, Caraballo, ganoon din po sa Sierra Madre mountain ranges bumababa po dito sa amin,” Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba added over TeleRadyo interview as explanation behind the flooding.
Photos, videos and narratives of affected individuals being posted online underscored the despair of the residents, with some asking for prayers as they doubted if they would still stay alive.
Some said, their neighbors were already missing.
“Salamat sa pagdadasal sa amin. Hindi namin alam kung bangkay na nila kaming dadatnan,” one resident told her friend in their message exchange posted on social media.
“Nakakatindig balahibo marinig ang sigaw ng aming kabarangay. Gumagamit na po ng mic para po mapansin at marescue!!! Kailangan po namin ng rescue dito sa (Barangay) Linao (East),” resident Mark Angelo Quilang said as he posted a Facebook video where residents were heard yelling for help.
“Girl! Tulungan mo ako! Nalulunod na mga magulang ko at hindi ko alam kung nasaan na sila. Kalahati ma lang ng bubong yung natira. Wala din akong flashlight kasi palowbat na ako. Pataas na nang pataas yung tubig!” another one told her friend.
And as many were sleeping soundly on Friday night, the phrase #CatanduanesNeedsHelp started to trend on Twitter to call for action from the government. Social media sites once again became emergency helplines.
Rescue teams were reportedly deployed following public outcries but their operations were postponed until dawn due to low visibility.
Col. Ascio Macalan of Cagayan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said the flood that inundated their province was “like the Pacific Ocean.”
“Kakaiba ang nangyari sa mga nakaraang tao,” he said.
Meanwhile, the provincial governor said that as of Saturday morning, nine were already reported dead in the province. Four of them were killed in a landslide, two drowned while three were electrocuted.
Vice President Leni Robredo, in a series of Twitter posts from Friday night to early Saturday morning, assured the affected individuals and concerned citizens that her office started coordinating with various local government agencies to immediately deploy rescue teams.
“Our prayers for Cagayan and Isabela. Reading posts now of people asking to be rescued. We deployed our security team to coordinate with AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) all the calls for rescue we are reading now. Will be monitoring and will post updates,” she said.
“Asking if possible to deploy air assets now. Waiting for feedback. Was assured Marine Rescue Team are on their way,” she added, “Received word from retired military officer that aerial rescue at night is very dangerous and most civilian choppers and its pilots are not night flight capable.”
