TACLOBAN CITY, Nov. 22 -- A provincial official in Eastern Samar is appealing to the national government to help residents of Jipapad town, who remained isolated on Thursday after Tropical Depression Samuel caused landslides and massive flooding in low-lying communities on Wednesday.
“The situation is very difficult in our town. There’s no food, no clean water, no electricity, and no mobile phone signal. We hope the national government will send help immediately, as early as possible,” Board Member Joji Montallana told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
She noted that many residents have been begging for food after a seven-meter high floodwater soaked food supplies, including prepositioned relief goods from the national and provincial government.
Montallana, a former mayor of Jipapad town, said two major landslides and widespread flooding have blocked the roads since Wednesday, isolating their town from the rest of Eastern Samar province. Floodwaters, however, started to subside Thursday morning.
The official, who drove a motorcycle to the nearby town of Lapinig, Northern Samar to make phone calls, said this is the most damaging flood since she migrated to Jipapad town in 1987 as it washed away food supplies, furniture, and even some houses.
Citing report from the local disaster risk reduction and management council, Montallana said the flooding displaced 2,557 residents, most of them from four villages within the town center.
The town has no evacuation center, prompting families to seek shelter in church buildings, town hall, and concrete private houses. School buildings are not safe for evacuation since these are located in low-lying areas, Montallana said.
Jipapad town is about 24 kilometers away from the main Eastern Samar highway in Arteche town. It is located 80 kilometers north of Borongan City, the seat of the provincial government. (SQM/PNA)
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