Six policemen clung on to trees like tarsiers for twelve hours when floodwaters rose as typhoon “Odette” lashed Kabankalan City on Friday, December 17, Mayor Pedro Zayco said Tuesday.
The policemen had gone to Sitio San Jose in Barangay 6, Kabankalan to rescue residents, when there was a sudden surge of water in the wee hours of Friday, he said.
The policemen and the 17 adults and children they rescued jumped out of the patrol vehicle and climbed pili trees to avoid being carried away by the floodwaters.
Their Hyundai H-100 vehicle disappeared and maybe at the bottom of a river, Zayco said.
Lt. Col. Raymond Cruz, Kabankalan police chief, said they tried to rescue the trapped policemen and the evacuees but they could not reach the area.
When they returned to the command center at the city hall their vehicle was also washed away, but was found the following day, he said.
Cruz said he and his companions jumped from the patrol car and swam to safety.
A backhoe operator was eventually able to reach Purok San Jose and rescue the nine children aged one to nine years old.
The policemen and other evacuees, who hung to the trees from 1 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. of Friday, were rescued much later by a City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office boat, Cruz said.
The typhoon killed 14 Kabankalan residents, while two are still missing, Zayco said.
Typhoon Odette’s winds toppled trees and power lines, floodwaters carried cars to the middle of fields, and destroyed houses and crops in Kabankalan.
In Barangay Orong residents climbed on a backhoe on top of a stockpile where they sought refuge for almost two days until the water subsided, he added.
The mayor said the floodwaters in Kabankalan rose to as high as 10 feet in some areas.
More than 12,000 evacuees have since returned home but food assistance and water are still being delivered to barangays, Zayco said.
“We conducted preemptive evacuation before the typhoon but some people were stubborn and would not leave their homes,” he said.
It is important that power is restored to Kabankalan so water supply and communication can be restored, Zayco said.
People need water badly, he said.
It was not just flooding that was the problem during the typhoon, but strong winds that even broke the glass windows at the Kabankalan City Hall, the mayor also said.
The Negros Occidental provincial government sent more water and generators sets to Kabankalan City Tuesday.
The mayor said he is thankful that private groups have also been bringing assistance to their typhoon victims.*