‘We are urgently in need’: Naga City endures severe floods, seeks rescue vehicles

NAGA CITY/BAGUIO, Philippines – The Naga City local government made an “urgent call” for rescue vehicles to help stranded residents in areas submerged in floodwaters or at high risk due to Tropical Storm Kristine on Tuesday, October 22.

“Our city’s rescue operations are overwhelmed by the rising floodwaters… We are urgently in need of trucks and assets from government and private sectors that can navigate floodwaters between three to six feet deep,” the Naga City local government wrote on their Facebook page on Tuesday evening.

A memorandum posted by Naga Mayor Nelson Legacion issued a forced evacuation order for all households that are either submerged in floodwaters or determined to be high-risk.

However, residents are struggling to go to evacuation centers due to a lack of vehicles that can pass through the flooded areas.

Jocel Sayson, a resident of Barangay Triangulo, cannot evacuate as the flood already reached their second floor, submerging their appliances in waters. He said that they do not usually evacuate since this kind of flooding does not normally happen. 

Sayson and other families stranded in the Triangulo flood are waiting for any rescue team that can go to their areas. 

But local officials are struggling to respond to the residents’ concerns.

“We cannot rescue ta kulangon sa rescue vehicle and it is worrying us so much (We cannot rescue because of a lack of rescue vehicles, and it is worrying us so much),” said Barangay Triangulo Sangguniang Kabataan Chairperson Jyla Mir Dangca.

Meanwhile, some residents in flooded areas of Barangay Tabuco preferred to stay inside their homes despite the preemptive forced evacuation order from the city government. (Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported this was also in Barangay Triangulo instead of Barangay Tabuco. This has been corrected.)

Ricca Mae Cambe, a resident of Barangay Tabuco, said that although they can still go outside, it is already dark and severely flooded, urging them to just stay in their house. 

“Alanganin na kaya kasi mabilison si langkaw kang tubig. Unexpected kaya ta usually dae man nag-aabot sa sala mi ang baha kasi mataas ang sala mi (It’s dangerous because the water is rising so fast. It is unexpected because usually the flood does not reach our living room since it is elevated),” Cambe added. 

Other Tabuco residents like John Paul Mamiit and his family are planning to evacuate if the situation worsens. Mamiit and his family were surprised that the flood entered through their house as their barangay is not a flood-prone area. 

“Bagyong Ulysses, nagbaha siya pero dae siya naglaog sa harong mi dawa hababa pa ang level kan harong mi before. It’s just this year nagparabaha siya malala and first time in more than 35 years nalaugan ulit baha ang harong mi,” Mamiit said. 

(During Typhoon Ulysses, it flooded but it did not enter our house even though the level of our house was low before. It’s just this year that it flooded badly and for the first time in more than 35 years our house was flooded again.) 

Former vice president and Naga local Leni Robredo, through her official Facebook page, also called on private individuals in the city who can lend their trucks or buses to help rescue affected individuals. 

“Baka po puwede na magtabang magrescue ta dai na kinakaya kan existing na assets kan gobyerno (Perhaps you can help with the rescue as the existing government assets cannot handle the rescuing anymore),”  Robredo wrote. 

Those who can lend vehicles capable of assisting are asked by the city government to proceed to the Incident Management Team at the Public Safety Office in the city hall compound. – Rappler.com

Angelee Kaye Abelinde, a campus journalist from Naga City, is a second-year Journalism student of Bicol University and the current copy editor of The Bicol Universitarian. She is also an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024. 

Lyndee Buenagua is a third year college student and campus journalist from the University of the Philippines Baguio. The former editor-in-chief of Highland 360, a Baguio-based publication, she is also an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2024.