BURNHAM boats were sent to flooded Cagayan areas in a bid to hasten rescue efforts.
Vivian Celso, one of the boat concessionaires at Burnham Park lake, gladly lent the lakeside leisure rides for the search, rescue and relief mission of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) and the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Cordillera's "Oplan Tulong Cagayan."
Celso said the boats are rigid hull and are made out of fiberglass, perfect in navigating in urban flooded town centers where sharp debris like G.I. sheet roofs can puncture rubber boats.
Colonel Allen Rae Co, BCPO city director, said four pontoon boats and swan boats will be sent to Cagayan and they may be the closest floating device for a rescue boat for landlocked region.
Co added that the boat owner said to him, if her boats can help save a life, it is a worthy cause.
Initially, Celso lent BCPO four pontoon boats that can carry 10 people, enough for the Water Search and Rescue (Wasar) team of PRO-Cordillera.
But limited logistics only allowed two pontoon boats and the pedal powered swan boat to be transported.
The BCPO team and the PRO-Cordillera Wasar yeam are now underway after meeting up in Tabuk City, Kalinga en route to Cagayan.
Massive flood and destruction swept through Isabela and Cagayan, requiring local officials to put the provinces under the state of calamity.
On November 14, the Provincial Board of Cagayan declared a state of calamity over the area with floodwaters affecting at least 43,838 families in 288 barangays of 26 municipalities, with more than 37,000 individual evacuees. (With a report from JJ Landingin)