The day after the flood - Opol
Flashfloods and landslides killed a teenager and displaced over 42,000 people in Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Tuesday.
In Misamis Oriental, the Molugan Bridge was not passable due to a crack on the concrete column while the Opol Bridge was partially damaged and was declared by the Department of Public Works and Highways impassable.
It happend on Sunday that the flashfloods coming down the hills met the raging sea with big waves caused by a strong fullmoon high tide at the coastal road in the town of Opol in Misamis Oriental.
The following photos have been taken the following day on monday which brought heavy winds to the area.
This photo shows how the beach looked on monday, the Ybon beach is littered with debris and a still angry sea.
The coastal road in Opol in Misamis Oriental is full with stranded and waiting vehicles on a damaged bridge. The DPWH have been working on it with heavy equipment and within 29 hours they were able to open traffic for one lane allowing 20 vehicles each time in every direction.
The huts made of lighter materials by the Ybon beach have been destroyed by big waves and the sand is littered with garbage brought by the flashflood.
The flood waters has been high as the top of the door of this house. The people just salvaged what was left of their furnitures and appliences and brought it outdoors for drying but neverless they are distroyed.
Passengers from strandes busses from and to Iligan and Pagadian had to take their belongins and lugguage and had to walk for about one kilometer to catch another bus.
Perishable cargoes, like chickenfeet and chickenheads, had to be moved by hand. Porters offered their services as ‘habal-habal’ had their day. Many people had just to walk because their were just not enough tricycles, sikads and habal-habal.
Bridges not destroyed have been left almost impossible to navigate by mud and stones, banana trunks and small and big trees carried by the flood waters.
This will be a problem when this mix will dry and become hard as concrete to remove.
It’s good to see when someone will give another one a helping hand.
This misery for many is mostly a man made disaster by the greed of a few.
Photos by Gilberto Beltran
