What went wrong?

The sun has come out and the people of Bayawan City in Negros Oriental have started to  pick up the pieces and get on with their lives following Sunday’s worst flood that inundated about 80 percent of their farms and houses on the flatlands. Yet, they also look for answers to the question: what went wrong?

It indeed seemed puzzling how a City so renowned for being a grandslam winner of the Gawad Kalasag (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) Award could be brought to its knees by three days of successive torrential monsoon rains.

In all, six persons were killed by the raging floodwaters, to include a rescuer, Police Officer 1 Rodelyn Gonzaga, 29, who was swept away by strong currents as he was rescuing flood victims.

It had been raining on and off for most of that week, but the situation turned for the worse by Friday when the rains got stronger and would not stop.

Former DAILY STAR correspondent Edilberito Euraoba III, who is now the operations officer of the Bayawan Public Safety Office and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said their office advised people in flood-prone areas Saturday afternoon to seek safety in higher grounds but the residents refused, saying they were already used to floods.

By Sunday dawn, floodwaters reached unprecedented levels, forcing many people out of their homes. But many were afraid because the currents were too strong.

Even Mayor Sarana was not spared from the floods, as he found himself trapped in his home by chest-deep waters.  It took a boat from the Dumaguete City Rescue Unit to come to his rescue at  around 10 a.m. Sunday, and brought him to City Hall so he could assume command of the disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Flooding on both ends of Bayawan City, which is bordered by the Bayawan River on the north and Sicopong River in the south,  rendered it isolated from the rest of Negros Oriental. Buses and even ten-wheeler trucks could not pass the floodwaters.

With the power cut off, communication facilities soon started to bog down.  Big waves brought about by the southwest monsoon also ruled out any rescue operation from the sea.

By the afternoon of Sunday, rescuers from Dumaguete and other local government units were also pulled out because the rains had also threatened to engulf Dumaguete City and other areas with floods. The Banica,  Ocoy and Siaton rivers,  that brought floods to Dumaguete City and the towns of Sibulan and Siaton in previous heavy downpours, were also close to spilling their dikes.

“That’s one important lesson we learned in this tragedy. We need to rely on our own resources. Once calamity strikes, you’re on your own,” Salimbagat said.

She is thankful that the personnel of the PSO came to work, despite the fact that they were also needed in their own homes. “We had a responsibility to the people of Bayawan,” she said.*

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