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Monday, February 27, 2006
Cebu rescuers ‘to finish task’ in Guinsaugon
MEMBERS of the Cebu Emergency Response Group (CERG) in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte are not going home until search and retrieval operations for landslide victims are over.
Team leader Supt. Anderson Comar admitted the task is difficult and will take weeks to complete because they have to dig into several meters of mud and boulders, amid changing weather conditions.
They won’t go home until told to do so by Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
“Ang mga boulders diri di madaog sa duha ka tawo. Imbes mangusog ka ikaw hinuon ang malubog kay humok kaayo ang yuta (The boulders are so huge two people can’t lift it. The soil is soft, you can sink),” he said.
He said they have used all their expertise in search and retrieval, but the situation in St. Bernard is different because the mud has covered an entire barangay.
Mild tremor
Hundreds were feared dead when a portion of Mt. Kan-abag in Barangay Guinsaugon collapsed and covered the entire barangay following three weeks of rain and a mild tremor.
Since day one, Cebu rescuers have been in Leyte to help in the search and rescue operation. They have recovered 27 bodies.
Comar said because they lack the advanced technology in detecting bodies beneath the ground they used a method they call “sticking-simhot,” which he said impressed the Taiwanese and American rescue groups.
The method is to force a stick some feet deep and pull it back. If the tip of the stick stinks, it means there’s body in the mud.
“Mopaltos mi usahay kay naay panahon nga baho ang among nasimhot pero mananap diay. (Sometimes we thought we’ve found a body only to learn that it’s a dead animal),” he said.
CERG has 86 members from the Central Visayas Search and Rescue, Bureau of Fire Protection 7, Rescue 160, Naga Rescue 761, Talisay Rescue, Regional Development Coordinating Council 7, Regional Response Task Force, Regional Mobile Group 7, Cebu Amateur Radio League, Cebu Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, Office of the Civil Defense, and Recon. (JECT of Superbalita)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 27, 2006 issue)
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