(MINI) SUNAMI Hits Cagayan De Oro

Wanted to share with you this information that was sent from our family mailing list and share it with all of you that has/have families in Cagayan De Oro ;  which we still have families living there.  Any help or assistance you can give, please do so! Thanks and please forward to all…

Here’s a YouTube video taken aftermath…

Cagayan De Oro Flood

Acacia Street, Cagayan de Oro

Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:19:56 -0800
To:
From: rggaane@earthlink.net
Subject: Ten-Foot Waves Hit Cag de Oro Anew

Our HELP is needed.

Ten-foot waves wipe out houses in Oro

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

CAGAYAN DE ORO — Hundreds of houses in three of this city’s villages were wiped out by battering waves aggravated by high tide in Macajalar Bay, officials said Tuesday.

The affected barangays are Gusa, Cugman and Tablon.

Barangay Gusa chairman Enrico Salcedo said last Monday night’s strong waves destroyed 95 houses and damaged 90 more.

Officials in Barangays Tablon and Cugman also reported that 134 houses were either destroyed or damaged by the big waves.

They said more than 229 families sought shelter at their barangay halls to escape the waves.

“Sa akong pagka kapitan diri, mao pa ning pinaka-una nga daghan gyud ang nanga-apektahan sa akong barangay (Since I became the village chief, this was the first time I saw hundreds of people from my village affected by the waves),” Salcedo said.

Lilia Labang, 38, a resident of Purok 8-A in Barangay Gusa, this city, said the waves that hit her house last Monday were very high and strong.

“Taas kaayo ang balod. Grabe kakusog (The waves were very high. It was so strong),” Labang narrated how the ten-foot waves destroyed her house and those of her neighbors.

Labang said they did not wait for the waves to get bigger. She said she and her husband hurriedly left their house, thankful that their children were already tucked away in the safety of their relatives’ house.

When Labang came back to their house Tuesday, she found its wooden walls that were facing the sea already gone.

“Kung tan-awon nimo sa atubangan morag wala maunsa pero ang luyo wala nay dingding (When you look at the front, you’ll see no damage, but the walls at the back were all destroyed),” Labang said.

She said this is one of the worst natural disasters that happened in the city in recent years.

As of Tuesday, residents continue to stream at the evacuation centers as the city is experiencing more heavy rains since Sunday.

Emil Rana, director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Northern Mindanao, said the total number of affected families increased to 12,797 or 73,096 persons.

Rana said the continuous rains have affected 12 more barangays in the city, bringing the total of affected villages to 26.

He said residents from Barangays 21, 30, 31, 35, 36, Agusan, Cugman, Kauswagan, Pigsag-an, Puerto, Tuburan and Tumpagon have been evacuating for safety.

He added that a landslide also cut off several sections in the Guinitan road section Tuesday afternoon, isolating the hinterland barangays of Pagalungan, Taglimao, Pigsag-an, Tuburan and Tumpagon.

Rana said they are now setting up more evacuation centers and providing medicines to ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of the centers.

“Ang sunod nato nga pagatutokan ani mao ang health situation sa atong mga evacuation centers. Imagine taglibo ka mga biktima naa sa usa ka lugar tapos usa ra kabuok kasilyas (The next thing we should focus on is the health situation of the evacuation centers. Just imagine the situation of those hundreds of residents affected with only one comfort room available),” Rana said.

He said the barangay hall of Canitoan, which is sheltering 585 families or 2,965 persons, is the most densely populated evacuation center, followed by the barangay hall of Pagatpat where 500 families or 2,500 persons are sheltered.

The influx of residents seeking shelter at the evacuation centers has already strained the coffers of the City Government if not for the steady stream of donations from kind residents and private companies.

“Magpasalamat ako sa mga private sector nga nagdonate para sa mga nabiktima sa baha. Abli pud 24-hours ang atong comcenter sa city tourism para mudawat sa mga dugang nga mga donasyon (I would like to thank the private sector for its donations. Our comcenter at the city tourism is also open 24-hours to accept additional donations),” Rana told Sun.Star.

Carmelito Lupo, director of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Northern Mindanao, delivered a total of 200 sacks of rice — 50 sacks each to Misamis Oriental and the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Gingoog and Iligan — on Tuesday at the City Tourism Hall which were hastily converted into the relief operations center of this city.

The Philippine Air Lines and Cebu Pacific diverted their flights bound for this city and Butuan City on Tuesday.

The Philippine Coast Guard has also lifted the ban on sea travel from Camiguin Island to Balingoan, Misamis Oriental, much to the relief of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry officers who were left stranded on the island since weekend. (ALR/CBC/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)


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