Bodies still Washing Up On Philippine Shores A Week After Killer Typhoon
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bodies still Washing Up On Philippine Shores A Week After Killer Typhoon*
One week after typhoon-spawned killer mudslides ravaged the eastern
Philippines, dead bodies continued to wash onto the shores of coastal
villages as heavy rains hampered rescue and relief efforts on Thursday.
Government officials called for a massive relocation of residents from
vulnerable areas as the toll of dead and missing continued to rise, and
more aid poured into the Bicol region, east of Manila.
Supertyphoon Durian, which hit the country last week, triggered deadly
volcanic mudflows that cascaded down Mayon volcano, inundating dozens of
villages near this eastern provincial capital.
The civil defense office on Thursday said it had confirmed 1,316 dead or
missing from the storm, even as rescue teams found more bodies in the mud.
In the coastal village of Puro, two decomposed bodies washed up on the
shore after heavy rains, residents and rescuers said.
Rescue teams said the bodies may have been washed into the sea from the
slopes of the villages of Mayon after being buried by the mudslides.
Late Wednesday, volunteers from local mining companies, acting as rescue
teams, said they had found four more bodies as they dug through the mud
near Legaspi City.
Stunned residents returning to the village of Isarog searched for their
homes beneath the deluge of mud that covered their community, and tried
to salvage refrigerators, televisions and washing machines.
In the village of Padang, miners used machinery to try to pinpoint the
site where residents said a truck full of people was overturned and
buried by the mudslide.
But heavy rains made digging difficult and the truck's exact location
could not be established.
Bicol continued to suffer from lack of power, telephone and water
services, but banks in most of Legaspi opened for the first time in a
week, resulting in huge lines and crowds. Tellers had to ration the
money they gave out as people sought to withdraw huge amounts.
Even as the relief teams struggled against the heavy rains, the
government weather station warned that a tropical depression was
expected to pass near Bicol in two days.
Anthony Golez, deputy head of the civil defense office, said water and
medicine were needed for the thousands of people displaced by the storm
and the mudflows.
Officials said the government would have to get serious about relocating
the thousands of people who live on the slopes of Mayon, a still-active
volcano around 350 kilometers (217 miles) southeast of Manila,
"It appears that the best option is the permanent evacuation of all the
families living within the hazard zones of the Mayon volcano," said
President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye.
He said Arroyo would make the "clear cut decisions... to end the
perennial cycle of death and destruction," and was willing to allocate
the resources needed to carry out the permanent evacuation, although he
did not specify the numbers involved.
Although Mayon is active and has threatened surrounding areas with
eruptions in recent years, many villagers refuse to leave their farms on
the slopes of Mayon due to the fertile volcanic soil.
Around 30,000 residents of villages on the slopes of Mayon were forced
to evacuate in August when the volcano showed signs of erupting. But
they returned home in September after it simmered down.
More than 1.6 million people were affected by the storm when it passed
through the country last week and estimates of damage were placed at
1.266 billion pesos (25.47 million dollars.)
Source: Agence France-Presse