8 houses in Sariaya, Quezon swept away by flood due to Kristine

Eight houses in a village in Sariaya, Quezon Province, were swept away by flood amid the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, according to Jun Veneracion’s report on “Saksi” on Friday.

Mary Grace Abalahon, who lives in Sitio Paradahan, Barangay Manggalang Bantilan, was only left with an electrical outlet extension after she lost her house.

“Wala, 'yung yero nandun na sa tubig, tsaka yung pundasyon at hollow blocks,” she said.

(I cannot do anything about it; the roof is already in the water, as are our house’s foundation and hollow blocks.)

When asked what would happen next to her and her family, Abalahon looked away and said, “Bahala na…Bahala na ang Panginoon sa amin.”

(I don’t know what else to do about it…I just surrender everything to the Lord.)

Thirty residents were affected by the incident.

Flooding during inclement weather has been a perennial issue among the residents of the barangay.

“Nais namin maiparating sa national government para po sa komunidad dito, para hindi po mawala ang tao dito, lagyan po natin ito ng protection wall,” said barangay captain Barok Umali.

(For the sake of our community and to save the lives of everyone here, we appeal to the national government to put up a protection wall in the river.)

Across Sariaya, 19 houses were reportedly damaged, while more than 300 were partially damaged.

In Lucban, where a state of calamity was declared, several houses and infrastructure were also destroyed by the tropical cyclone.

Four classrooms were destroyed, and a tree fell on the covered court in Lucban 3-A Elementary School.

Some 5,000 households do not have water supply because of the broken water line.

“Sa ngayon, ang ginagawa namin ay nagra-ration muna kami ng tubig sa mga apektadong lugar,” said Vice Mayor Arnel Abcede.

(What we do now is rationing water to affected areas.)

Meanwhile, in the neighboring provinces of Laguna and Cavite, some 200,000 customers of Manila Electric Company do not have power supply yet.

A state of calamity was also declared in Cavite as the local government continued the relief operations.  —Vince Angelo Ferreras/VBL, GMA Integrated News