MANILA - "Wala pa kaming outside aid na natatanggap."
That was the worried statement given by Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) information officer Christine Caidic to InterAksyon.com.
So far, she said, only the provincial government of Samar has come to help the devastated towns of Basey and Marabut, which were also leveled by Super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), suffering the same house-high waves that hit Tacloban City in Leyte.
"Depleted na rin po ang aming resources," Caidic said.
The two Samar towns are just across the narrow San Juanico Strait from Tacloban City. Next to Marabut is Eastern Samar. One has to pass through the towns of Balingaga, Giporlos, Quinapondan, and Salcedo before reaching Guiuan, where Yolanda made its first landfall on Friday.
The provincial government has been conducting clearing operations along the highways from its capital, Catbalogan, to Marabut and eventually to reach Guian.
No word yet has reached PDRRMC as to the actual number of casualties in Guiuan and nearby towns or to the progress the Department of Public Works and Highways have made in reaching the town, which is at the southern tip of the main Samar island.
No electricity, no banks
Caidic said the entire Region 8 still has no electricity and their province is already running low on fuel to be able to reach the devastated southern coastal towns.
She is also appealing for canned goods and other basic needs of survivors.
Other towns south of Catbalogan leading to Tacloban are not as heavily damaged but there are unconfirmed reports of deaths in the town of Sta. Rita, where the San Juanico Bridge starts.
"We have sent 10 teams to do needs assessment in other towns such as Pinabacdao, Yabong, and Paranas. But we will wait out this other typhoon [Zoraida] before we can send out teams in islands like Daram and Sumaraga, which are still unreachable until this time," Caidic said.
According to Louie Guillem of the Fire Volunteer Brigade of Catbalogan, residents of Sta. Rita, Villareal, San Sebastian, Calbiga, Paranas, and Motiong have been going to Catbalogan on foot since Monday to stock up on supplies since Tacloban trade has virtually shut down in the city.
"The problem is banks here are closed and people come here only to find out that they cannot withdraw money to buy basic necessities. Schools and offices are open here, why can't the banks open too?" he told InterAksyon.com.
Guillem's volunteer group was among those who went to Tacloban to give aid, especially water, but was later diverted to equally devastated towns of Basey and Marabut.
He said he was able to contact some friends in Ormoc, where mobile phone signal is spotty, and said Ormoc desperately needs help. Ormoc Villa Hotel is now serving as an evacuation center, where the owner is now staying.
"His mansion was also destroyed," Guillem said.
source: interaksyon.com