By Queenie Casio
MindaNews
TANDAG City — “We had to swim just to reach the main road,” recalled Anadel Alipao., a resident of Barangay Camagong, Tago, describing how floodwaters brought about by tropiscal storm ‘Basyang’ surged through her community on Thursday, February 5. “We couldn’t bring anything with us. We had to leave all our belongings behind just to save ourselves.”
By 6 p.m. on February 7, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) reported that 77,079 affected families or nearly 292,294 residents across 244 barangays. Of these, 23,437 families (80,140 persons) were sheltered in 428 evacuation centers, with an additional 5,571 families displaced outside formal centers.
“In our years of staying in our barangay, this is the first time we experienced this,” said a resident of Barangay Awasian, Tandag City, highlighting the unprecedented scale of the flooding.
Floodwaters rose quickly, reaching the floors of homes and, in some areas, as high as the ceilings of the first floor of two-storey houses. Streets were flooded, submerging homes, vehicles, livelihoods and personal belongings.
Lot Garrido, Officer-in-Charge of the Provincial DRRMO, said damage assessment and casualty verification are still ongoing, particularly in the hardest-hit municipalities in the province.
So far, authorities reported two persons dead, one injured and no missing persons.
According to the PDRRMO, initial surveys show 426 homes totally or partially destroyed, while damages to government and public facilities, schools, roads and bridges are estimated at over P698 million. Agricultural losses including rice, corn, livestock, poultry and fisheries are reported at over P548 million.
Local governments are coordinating to ensure families in evacuation centers receive food, water and medical assistance.
In Cortes, Surigao del Sur, Councilor and businesswoman Hazel Pasok, with partner Mikah Kristylle E. Paqueo, used personal funds to immediately provide meals to families hit by “Basyang.”
They converted their Tandag-based establishment into relief kitchens and set up a temporary charging station using a generator in Cortes.
“This is about helping families survive while waiting for formal aid,” Pasok said.
For evacuees like Anadel, the priority remains simple: survive the storm and return home safely once the waters recede.
