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Monday, December 29, 2003
Zigzag spares Leyte’s victims
By Oscar C. Pineda
SOUTHERN LEYTE—Spent before it could hit land, tropical depression Zigzag spared Southern Leyte during the weekend, giving relief workers a chance to keep delivering food and other essentials, like counseling.
Except for some drizzles, the province did not get bogged down by Zigzag, which was expected to hit the area Saturday night.
Relief goods and stress-debriefing experts courtesy of the Red Cross kept arriving in San Ricardo town, on the southernmost tip of Panaon Island, despite rough seas. The community remains inaccessible by land.
Water supply to the town was cut off by the Dec. 19 landslides, said Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias. She will send the Provincial Engineering Task Force there once the road is cleared, to assess the damage and make recommendations for repair.
Lerias, who met Sunday with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), was so worried about the storm that she considered sending policemen should any of the families resist evacuation.
Saved from another disaster, government leaders and volunteers in Leyte can now focus on building homes for over 900 families, keeping disease from breaking out and helping survivors get back on their feet again.
The PDCC tally as of Dec. 27 lists:
*103 dead in Barangay Punta, San Francisco town;
*24 dead in Barangay Pinut-an, San Ricardo; and
*19 dead in Barangay Poblacion and three in Barangay Malanza, both in Liloan town.
Clearing
Zigzag, which also threatened parts of Central Visayas, dissipated at 5 a.m. Sunday, about 50 kilometers from the coast of Eastern Samar.
The weather bureau recorded no landfall.
“Weak tropical depressions usually get spent before or during landfall,” Jun Amarillo of Pag-asa said.
Zigzag was downgraded to a low pressure about 70 kilometers east of Eastern Samar.
The rain and wind hovering over the Visayas can be attributed to the northeasterly wind or amihan typical at this time of the year.
Despite the Coast Guard’s warnings for pumpboats not to travel, as storm signal number one was up over Southern Leyte, aid kept reaching San Ricardo last Saturday, said Romeo Orilla, Red Cross Youth national headquarters manager.
He attended Sunday’s meeting of the disaster council, with line agency officials and Vice Gov. Eva Tomol.
As one enters Panaon Island from the mainland, the first town is Liloan, then San Francisco, followed by Pintuyan, then San Ricardo.
A representative from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said they already cleared the highway until Barangay Punta, the first barangay after San Francisco, going to Pintuyan town.
Pintuyan is also inaccessible, though there was no damage reported there.
In San Ricardo town, Barangay Pinut-an suffered the greatest damage and the most number of casualties. Its former mayor, Vicente Mejia, was still missing as of Sunday.
A much-needed bit of good news is that, with all the funds coming in, Southern Leyte only needs President Arroyo’s approval of their survey plans for construction of houses to begin.
Compassion
Orilla said his organization received $50,000 from United States Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, $16,000 from the Danish Red Cross and 45,000 francs from the Geneva Red Cross.
He said they will recommend that these funds be spent on housing.
Governor Lerias, for her part, has formed different committees to identify possible relocation sites in San Francisco, San Ricardo and Liloan towns.
After identifying possible sites, a team will validate if the sites are ideal. They will also determine if the area is to be donated to the Province or paid for.
Then the Province will prepare a survey plan and submit it to President Arroyo.
Lerias announced yesterday a pledge by Pampanga Provincial Board Member Baby Pineda, that an unspecified non-government organization promised to fund the building of 100 houses.
Stress relief
Health, both physical and psychological, are also urgent concerns.
Last Saturday, the Red Cross sent “critical incidents stress debriefing” (CISD) experts to San Ricardo.
Dubbed as a kind of “psychological first aid team,” the five experts will help victims cope with the stress they are under.
Provincial Health Officer Leonardo Eway has ordered teams to sanitize disaster areas, especially in Barangay Punta where more than a hundred bodies were recovered.
Governor Lerias said it will take the provincial health office four weeks to spray the disaster areas as one way of guarding against respiratory ailments or infections.
More bodies are believed to be buried under the mud that now covers a major part of the Punta community. Government decided to keep it that way, and move survivors elsewhere instead, to keep health risks minimal. with AIV
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