By Odon S. Bandiola
Some two persons were reported dead and four others missing after Typhoon Seniang lashed the entire province of Aklan late evening last Saturday until Sunday afternoon, inflicting damage to Aklan’s agriculture and infrastructure initially estimated at P100 million or more.
The casualties and missing persons are all from the resort island of Boracay, hardest hit Saturday morning. Beachcombers were caught off guard at the sea when Seniang lashed the island and the northern towns of Aklan. Senior Insp. Christopher Prangan, officer in-charge of the Boracay Special Police Office, identified the dead persons as Raffy Andrade, boatman of the Paradise Garden Resort in Boracay and a certain Gigi Rodriguez, a Filipina employed by Wigstorm Resort.
Rodriguez was initially rescued but died upon arrival at the Boracay Hospital. Prangan identified the missing persons as Martin Magallanes, Edmar Aban, Samuel Lagat and Mar Loquito.PAGASA placed the province of Aklan under Typhoon Signal No. 2 early morning of Saturday, together with other provinces in Panay Island and Southern Luzon. The alert level was upgraded to Signal No. 3 in the early evening of the same day.
Initially, PAGASA traced the typhoon path to trudge completely westward to hit Roxas City, Capiz before exiting for Coron, Palawan. But by midnight Sunday, Seniang changed course and moved northwestward to the Visayan Sea, hitting directly Aklan province including Boracay Island and other northern towns of the province.
DAMAGE
Initial reports submitted by nine towns in Aklan on the extent of damages wrought by Typhoon Seniang to the Aklan Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) revealed damages worth P100 million or higher of agricultural crops, fisheries, poultry and livestock, damaged structures as school buildings, hospitals and government offices and to lifelines like roads and bridges, telephone and electricity.
Eight more municipalities have still to submit their reports to the Aklan PDCC. The Aklan PDCC expects the damage to swell further as soon as local government units have completely submitted their final reports, said Retired Police Major Paquito S. Saratiosa, Action Officer of the Aklan PDCC.
On the request of Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez, Vice Gov. Ronquillo Tolentino and the members of the Aklan provincial board decided to meet in an emergency special session late afternoon of Sunday. Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan declared a State of Calamity in the entire Province of Aklan through Resolution No. 06-462.
The declaration further authorized the governor to release funds from the province’s calamity fund to address the financial requirements of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts of the provincial government.
Tolentino, who is likewise the chair of the Philippine National Red Cross, Aklan Chapter, ordered his staff at the PNRC office Aklan to release 20 sacks of rice for distribution to typhoon victims in Boracay Island.
By noontime of Sunday, the capital town of Kalibo in the east and Numancia town at the west bank were submerged under knee to breast depth of floodwaters. The Aklan River overflowed due to heavy rains brought by Seniang, particularly in the southern towns of Libacao and Madalag — headwaters of the Aklan River and its major tributaries.
By Monday morning, floodwaters in Kalibo and Numancia started to recede. Electricity was down in Aklan, including Boracay Island, since midnight Saturday. The transmission lines of Transco from Iloilo to Aklan via Capiz were damaged. The distribution lines of the Aklan Electric Cooperative were also damaged.
Hundreds of families were forced to evacuate to higher areas, particularly those living along the river banks of the Aklan river. The Aklan PDCC set up an evacuation center at the Gov. Augusto B. Legaspi Memorial Sports and Cultural Center at the Provincial Capitol.
Even the Aklan capitol building was not spared from the fury of Seniang which uprooted decades-old rubber trees inside the provincial capitol compound. Floodwaters also made the capitol like waterways of the Aklan River.
The province’s jetty port and terminal facilities in Caticlan, Malay and Cagban, Manocmanoc, Boracay were heavily damaged by waves and strong winds.
Landslides occurred at Brgy. Habana, Nabas, shutting off transportation in the Nabas-Caticlan national highway the whole day Sunday. Landslides also occurred at the mountain location of the Tangalan National High School west of the capital town.
Seawalls protecting barangay Tambac, Mabilo and Poblacion, New Washington, Aklan, east of Kalibo, were also heavily damaged by waves./MPmailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
The casualties and missing persons are all from the resort island of Boracay, hardest hit Saturday morning. Beachcombers were caught off guard at the sea when Seniang lashed the island and the northern towns of Aklan. Senior Insp. Christopher Prangan, officer in-charge of the Boracay Special Police Office, identified the dead persons as Raffy Andrade, boatman of the Paradise Garden Resort in Boracay and a certain Gigi Rodriguez, a Filipina employed by Wigstorm Resort.
Rodriguez was initially rescued but died upon arrival at the Boracay Hospital. Prangan identified the missing persons as Martin Magallanes, Edmar Aban, Samuel Lagat and Mar Loquito.PAGASA placed the province of Aklan under Typhoon Signal No. 2 early morning of Saturday, together with other provinces in Panay Island and Southern Luzon. The alert level was upgraded to Signal No. 3 in the early evening of the same day.
Initially, PAGASA traced the typhoon path to trudge completely westward to hit Roxas City, Capiz before exiting for Coron, Palawan. But by midnight Sunday, Seniang changed course and moved northwestward to the Visayan Sea, hitting directly Aklan province including Boracay Island and other northern towns of the province.
DAMAGE
Initial reports submitted by nine towns in Aklan on the extent of damages wrought by Typhoon Seniang to the Aklan Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) revealed damages worth P100 million or higher of agricultural crops, fisheries, poultry and livestock, damaged structures as school buildings, hospitals and government offices and to lifelines like roads and bridges, telephone and electricity.
Eight more municipalities have still to submit their reports to the Aklan PDCC. The Aklan PDCC expects the damage to swell further as soon as local government units have completely submitted their final reports, said Retired Police Major Paquito S. Saratiosa, Action Officer of the Aklan PDCC.
On the request of Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez, Vice Gov. Ronquillo Tolentino and the members of the Aklan provincial board decided to meet in an emergency special session late afternoon of Sunday. Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan declared a State of Calamity in the entire Province of Aklan through Resolution No. 06-462.
The declaration further authorized the governor to release funds from the province’s calamity fund to address the financial requirements of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts of the provincial government.
Tolentino, who is likewise the chair of the Philippine National Red Cross, Aklan Chapter, ordered his staff at the PNRC office Aklan to release 20 sacks of rice for distribution to typhoon victims in Boracay Island.
By noontime of Sunday, the capital town of Kalibo in the east and Numancia town at the west bank were submerged under knee to breast depth of floodwaters. The Aklan River overflowed due to heavy rains brought by Seniang, particularly in the southern towns of Libacao and Madalag — headwaters of the Aklan River and its major tributaries.
By Monday morning, floodwaters in Kalibo and Numancia started to recede. Electricity was down in Aklan, including Boracay Island, since midnight Saturday. The transmission lines of Transco from Iloilo to Aklan via Capiz were damaged. The distribution lines of the Aklan Electric Cooperative were also damaged.
Hundreds of families were forced to evacuate to higher areas, particularly those living along the river banks of the Aklan river. The Aklan PDCC set up an evacuation center at the Gov. Augusto B. Legaspi Memorial Sports and Cultural Center at the Provincial Capitol.
Even the Aklan capitol building was not spared from the fury of Seniang which uprooted decades-old rubber trees inside the provincial capitol compound. Floodwaters also made the capitol like waterways of the Aklan River.
The province’s jetty port and terminal facilities in Caticlan, Malay and Cagban, Manocmanoc, Boracay were heavily damaged by waves and strong winds.
Landslides occurred at Brgy. Habana, Nabas, shutting off transportation in the Nabas-Caticlan national highway the whole day Sunday. Landslides also occurred at the mountain location of the Tangalan National High School west of the capital town.
Seawalls protecting barangay Tambac, Mabilo and Poblacion, New Washington, Aklan, east of Kalibo, were also heavily damaged by waves./MPmailto:madyaas_pen@yahoo.com
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