DUMAGUETE CITY–Typhoon victims have begun to rebuild their homes right next to the river.
A visit by this writer to the Banica River dike in Barangay 8 of this city Friday morning revealed that of the six hovels washed away by the storm in that neighborhood, two are now standing in the same location right next to the dike.
“They rebuilt their huts right away for fear that they would be prevented from returning to the area,” a man who refused to be identified told the MetroPost.
Mud and garbage still abound in this riverside community that was totally inundated by a wall of water measuring two stories high that rushed from the mountains, sweeping many things in its path.
Luckily, for this community, there were no casualties.
“We warned our neighbors of the potential danger and I stayed up all night that Friday to watch for floods in the river,” said Nida Dagoy, 36, a barangay tanod. By morning, some residents headed for higher ground.
Dagoy, whose own hut was one of the six that were washed away, said she was standing on the river dike Saturday morning when she noticed the water was swirling. “The next thing I saw was this wall of water. I and the other people who were standing on the dike jumped to safety,” she said, escaping with only her clothes on her back.
Elsewhere in Negros Oriental, the death toll stood at 37 with 5 missing throughout the Province. The storm affected a total of 12,260 families. A total of 1,036 houses were totally damaged and 3,309 houses sustained partial damage.
Damage to infrastructure rose to Php 694.4M. The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said a total of Php 9.8 M has been given in assistance to the victims.
Help soon came for the storm victims in the form of food and clothes. Dagoy was assigned to cook for the flood victims in a makeshift kitchen beside the barangay hall. “Our kitchen is open to anyone who wants to eat,” she said. Most of those who come to eat are men who are rebuilding their homes.
The evacuees also got visits from City Health personnel, who gave tetanus shots for those who suffered cuts.
For Dagoy, the tragedy has brought them closer as a community. “We help one another, like we always do, as the task of rebuilding our community will take a long time.”