#YolandaPH’s damage to Cebu in numbers

 CEBU, Philippines - When a storm system with a diameter of 500 miles hits an island measuring only 11 kilometers wide, only devastation can be imagined.

This was exactly what happened to Bantayan Island when super typhoon Yolanda made landfall in the Philippines on November 8 last year. With a gustiness of 235 miles per hour, the storm also ripped apart 13 towns and a city in mainland Cebu, leaving 70 people dead and properties damaged at P4.41 billion.

Overall, including those in Eastern Visayas where Yolanda first made landfall, at least 6,000 perished in the storm.

In Cebu, the storm affected the towns of Sogod, Borbon, Tabogon, Medellin, Daanbantayan, San Remigio, Tabuelan, Tuburan, San Francisco, Poro, Tudela, Pilar, Sta. Fe, Madridejos, and Bantayan and the City of Bogo.

 The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reports that a total of 152,746 families were affected and 610,984 individuals were displaced. The number of houses affected reached 122,482 with 75,701 (62 percent) destroyed and 46,781 (38 percent) partially damaged. Most of the damaged houses were located in Bantayan Island and Daanbantayan town.

 Damage in the infrastructure sector and utilities amounted to P751.6 million, which is 17 percent of the total estimated damage.

The towns of Tabuelan and Bantayan were hit the hardest with damage amounting to P158.3 million and P135.7 million, respectively.

 Based on the province’s rehabilitation plan, around P12.06 billion is needed to bring normalcy back to the affected local government units.

At least P2 billion is needed for infrastructure with P254.592 million alone needed to repair school buildings and P41.361M to construct health facilities. Another P540.435 million is needed to rehabilitate existing facilities and P534.408 million is needed to fix waster systems, roads and bridges.

 Julius Albite Camerino, Project Development Officer of PDRRMO, said there are 22,423 households that need to be resettled or relocated, as these are located in the 40- meter no dwelling zone.

 Of this number, only 1,333 are being funded by the National Housing Authority but construction has yet to start.

 The Task Force Paglig-on, a team mandated by the provincial government to monitor rehabilitation efforts in northern Cebu, is yet to finalize the numbers as far as households that are yet to be relocated and reconstructed are concerned.

 “Mangayo pa mi og lista sa benefeciaries from NGOs and lNGOs aron to ensure nga di ma-duplicate… we are still in the evaluating and monitoring stage pa gyod,” he told The FREEMAN.

Schools

The Department of Education – Cebu Province says at least 69 out of 2,194 classrooms damaged by the typhoon have been completely repaired, but Engr. Ester Roldan emphasized that there are a number of classrooms that were reconstructed and repaired that are not under the department.

In the province, DepEd Cebu reported that a total of 874 classrooms were devastated by the typhoon.

DepEd Regional Physical Facilities Coordinator Victor Yntig said the department is yet to come up with an updated list of classrooms that have been constructed and repaired. A total of 353 schools in Cebu Province and at least 33 schools in Bogo City were affected.

Yntig has already instructed the Physical Facilities Coordinators in Cebu Province, Bogo City Division, and Cebu City Division to come up with an updated and validated assessment on the rebuilding and reconstructing of the classrooms.

He admitted that there are still few schools conducting classes under tents but assured that this problem will be addressed before the year ends.

He admitted that there are “contributory factors” in the delay in construction, as well as in the procurement process.

Hospitals

Aside from houses and schools, health facilities were also devastated.

The Department of Health-7 recorded at least 52 health facilities damaged by Yolanda in Bantayan, Madridejos, Borbon, Medellin, Daanbantayan, Sta. Fe, San Remegio, Bogo City, Tabogon, and Camotes Island.

As  of October 31, 2014, at least 16 health facilities in Northern Cebu have been repaired by DOH while five others were repaired by international humanitarian groups.

There were two hospitals, 14 rural health units and 36 barangay health stations that were damaged by the typhoon.

DOH has allocated over P40 million for repair works, which will be given in two tranches.

In Tabogon, construction of at least 19 barangay health stations started last August.

Officials have asked the DOH to rebuild, not just fix, at least eight barangay health stations in Northern Cebu.

Roads, Bunkhouses

 Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways-7 says there are at least 32 projects have been implemented to rehabilitate areas hit by Yolanda. Of this number, 16 have been completed while 13 are ongoing and three others are yet to be started. 

DPWH-7 Director Ador Canlas said at least P447 million has been allocated for the projects and assured that Yolanda-related projects will be completed before the year ends, including rehabilitation of national roads, flood control structures, and clearing operations.

He said that DPWH-7 has constructed 20 bunkhouses in Ormoc.

“In Cebu, wa ta mi-construct og bunkhouses,” he said, adding, that the agency also assisted DepEd and the Department of Interior and Local Government in the technical review of their plans and programs of works of school buildings and public markets.

 In a recent visit to Cebu, former Senator Panfilo Lacson, the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery, reported that the Department of Budget and Management has released P50 billion, so far, to fund the rehabilitation effort in all Yolanda-hit provinces in the country. A total of P39 billion has been front-loaded to different national agencies while another P11 billion has just been released on October 20 to the NHA for its housing program.

He admitted that full rehabilitation could not yet be achieved due to lack of funds.While the national government has yet to construct permanent housing, Camerino said several on-going relocation sites are being implemented by various international non-governmental organizations and local NGOs. 

"While waiting for the full swing implementation of resettlement sites, most of the residents have temporarily rebuilt their houses within the danger zones," part of the rehabilitation plan for Cebu reads. — /JMO (FREEMAN)