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MANILA: The Philippine coast guard and disaster agencies rushed in on Saturday (November 14) to rescue thousands of people in a northern province flooded by Typhoon Vamco, the country’s deadliest cyclone this year.
Dozens of villages in the Cagayan region north of the capital Manila remain submerged, affecting thousands of families, some of whom fled to rooftops to escape the two-story flooding, authorities said.
The Philippine Coast Guard conducts a rescue operation after Typhoon Vamco caused severe flooding in the Cagayan Valley region of the northeastern Philippines on November 13, 2020 (Photo: PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD / Handout via REUTERS)
The coast guard sent teams of rescue personnel, vehicles and rubber boats to Tuguegarao early Saturday, and will bring in more aid from nearby provinces, said coast guard commander George Ursabia.
The cumulative effects of previous weather shocks, as well as water from a dam and higher plains led to major flooding in Cagayan province, the disaster agency said.
A member of the Philippine Coast Guard carries a baby during a rescue operation after Typhoon Vamco caused severe flooding in the Cagayan Valley region of northeastern Philippines on November 13, 2020 (Photo: GUARDIA FROM THE PHILIPPINE COAST / Brochure via REUTERS)
The nearby Magat Dam released water equivalent to two Olympic-size swimming pools per second on Friday, government data showed.
The Cagayan Valley is a region of 1.2 million people that comprises five agricultural provinces. Nearly 14,000 people remain in evacuation centers after flooding affected 343,000, the disaster agency said.
“We think it will be more than a week before the floods subside” if there is no more rain, Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano told DZMM radio station. Access to the city, home to 163,000 people, was cut off due to flooded roads, he said.
The Philippine Coast Guard conducts a rescue operation, after Typhoon Vamco caused severe flooding, in the Cagayan Valley region of the northeastern Philippines, on November 13, 2020 (Photo: PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD / Brochure via REUTERS)
Residents took to social media, posting photos and addresses pleading for ransom. The #CagayanNeedsHelp hashtag was the top trending topic on Twitter with 2.03 million tweets.
“We are already on the third day at the top of our roof. We need relief items and clothing because we are not saving anything,” Ramilo Lagundi, a resident of the city of Tuguegarao, told DZBB radio station. Lagundi said he was staying with hundreds of other neighbors on the rooftops.
Vamco, the 21st cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, has killed at least 42 people, according to figures released by the national police. The country’s civil defense authorities say the typhoon has claimed at least 27 lives.
It crossed the main island of Luzon late Wednesday.
