Ulysses downpour destroys 80 Batangas houses built on fissures

A teacher on Friday could not help but cry as she recalled how the land under her bedroom and kitchen cracked open during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses in Batangas.

According to John Consulta’s report on “24 Oras,” around 80 houses were destroyed by the fissures which appeared in San Nicolas, Taal, and Lemery.

“Inakay din po kami siguro ni Lord dahil nakalibang kami lahat. Kung hindi po, kaming mag-asawa siguradong baka hindi na kami nakita rito,” Analuza Canuel said.

Canuel said that before their bed and other items were swallowed by the fissure at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, they heard a loud groan from below the ground.

“Nakita ko po ‘yung mga paso namin nag tumbahan na lahat. Gumaganon na po ‘yung parang may whirlpool. Biglang bumaba ang tubig. Yun pala, ito na, biak na pala siya,” Canuel said.

Residents could no longer stay in their houses due to the fissures, some of which were 3 meters deep.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said this was the same height as a three-story building.

PHIVOLCS scientists also warned that it was important to evacuate residents whose houses were within the 5-meter buffer zone of the fissures. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News