HANNAH Via Yunson Villaflores drowned in a creek after saving a 10-year-old neighbor from being carried away by the flood that hit their neighborhood in Barangay Landahan, Toledo City Monday morning, January 9.
Tropical depression Auring brought heavy rain that caused rivers and creeks to swell, flooding at least nine barangays in the city—Landahan, Ibo, Capitan Claudio, Carmen, Dumlog, Magdugo, Matab-ang, Cambang-ug and Canlumampao.
More than 70 families were evacuated.
Alexander Dennis Abella, Toledo City’s disaster risk reduction officer, said some of the evacuees sought refuge inside the city’s sports complex, while others stayed in classrooms and their relatives’ homes.
He said the city started to feel the downpour last Sunday dawn and it didn’t stop until it was past 3 p.m. yesterday. The officer blamed the illegal extraction of sand and gravel for the flood.
The mother of Hannah Via, who was fond of joining beauty and dance contests, mourned her daughter’s death.
“Kon way maanod og way mamatay, di motuang ang baha (The flood didn’t stop until it had carried someone away),” said Victoria hours after her daughter was found lifeless by a farmer in Barangay Ibo, about three kilometers from their home in Sitio Kabutongan, Landahan.
Ready
Before the flood swept her at 8:30 a.m., Hannah Via and her brother Vince Paul, 13, helped their mother pack up their clothes and other valuables.
Their siblings Jacinto, 10; Niña Mary, 8; and Sean Tyler, 2, had been transferred to their relative’s house at that time.
Water from a nearby creek had entered their house and it was ankle-deep.
Victoria later saw her daughter capture a video of the flood on her cell phone.
She asked Hannah Via what she would do with the video and the latter replied she has plans to post it on her Facebook account, so she can attract attention from government officials.
Victoria walked outside the house, waded in the flood and grabbed the plastic wares that were floating.
“Ma, ayaw paggawas kay basin maanod ka (Ma, don’t go outside because you might get swept away),” said Hannah Via, as quoted by Victoria.
Lifesaver
After taking the video, Hannah Via kept her cell phone inside their family’s store.
Victoria went back to the house.
She did not notice that Hannah Via and Vince Paul joined their neighbors Jonathan Sabellano, 10; Eric Erebias, 16; Carlo Maasin, 20; and Julito Bauya, 24, in clearing the road of rocks from the hill.
Bauya said he was only with Maasin, Erebias and Sabellano. They did not persuade the Villaflores siblings to help them.
When they reached a mango tree, about 30 meters from Villaflores’s house, the group decided to go back to their homes.
Sabellano fell into the creek, but Hannah Via quickly grabbed his arms and pulled him up.
Vince Paul braved the flood, crossing from one side of the road to the other side. He then cautioned his sister not to follow him.
“Ate, ayaw sa labang. Kusog ang baha (Don’t cross yet. The current’s too strong),” the boy told her sister.
Crossing
Hannah Via insisted on crossing the road. She lost her balance after she slipped.
After she fell face down, Hannah Via managed to hold on to the trunk of a mango tree, but a boulder hit her head, knocking her out.
She lost her grip. Vince Paul held her hands, but he could not pull his bigger sister. Julito and his friends failed to help because they were far from the siblings.
The strong current swept her toward Sitio Ka Angkay, Ibo.
At 11 a.m., a farmer who was looking after his carabao found Hannah Via’s body stranded in a flooded farm.
Residents rushed the girl to Toledo City Hospital, where the doctor declared her dead on arrival.
Hannah Via’s body, wrapped in a blanket, lay on the wooden bed inside her family’s house, waiting for the arrival of her father who flew to Manila last Friday to work as a driver for an engineering company.
“Pait lagi ning nadangatan namo (This is tragic, what we’re going through),” said Ariel in a phone interview.