Thousands have been feared dead after one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded in world history smashed Visayas regions, with Tacloban City bearing the brunt of super typhoon Yolanda, leaving hundreds of thousands people homeless in a swath of destruction described by a United Nations rescue mission team “as horrible as that of Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.” Either by luck or as a result of intense prayers by the Boholanos, Bohol however did not suffer any casualty and skipped Yolanda’s eye of destruction that swept Samar and Leyte before it overwhelmed the rest of Visayas regions. Except some reported fallen trees and the collapse of covered court at a private high school in Anda, Bohol, Yolanda did not inflict no major infrastructure damage in the province, according to an initial report of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).

PDRMMC had received reports of landslides and floodings in various parts of Bohol. Yolanda left Bohol, still reeling from the Oct. 15 killer quake that claimed more than 200 lives, with not as much damage as it wrecked havoc on Eastern Visayas Region. As of this reporting, all 47 towns and one city in Bohol entered the second day without power after Yolanda knocked off the Leyte Power Grid, Bohol’s main source of electricity for its 1.3 million residents. In Tagbilaran City alone, thousands of residents, as of press time, were waiting anxiously when water services would be restored, and are facing days of uncertainty. Bohol Water Company is practically paralyzed and seems helpless in supplying water to its consumers until power is restored. The three power distributors of the province, Boheco I and II and Bohol Light, are also clueless when power would be restored here. “Until Leyte’s power source is restored, we will all be left in darkness for a while,” a source from the Bohol Light Company told the Post yesterday.

EYE OF DESTRUCTION

The much-anticipated landfall of Yolanda, packing up with a maximum gust of wind at 390 km per hour, was felt Friday dawn at Guian, Eastern Samar and it triggered storms surges as high as a 3-storey building. Reports said tsunami-like waves practically covered the whole face of Tacloban City as it overran low-lying communities. Sources of the Bohol Sunday Post said that at the wake of typhoon Yolanda, scores of dead bodies were found on the streets of Tacloban. Cries of help and weeping were heard in the streets And Ted Failon, reporting over ANC and ABS-CBN, said he personally saw dead bodies floating in the sea and none were around to pick up the floating corpses. A Post’s source based in Spain who happened to have a contact in Ormoc City said that hundreds of people, if not thousands, are feared dead after waves as high as 17 feet slammed the whole city of Tacloban in a tsunami manner.

Due to the ferocity of Yolanda’s wind, Tacloban’s Astrodome Sports Complex where thousands had sought shelter a day before the super typhoon made a landfall on Friday collapsed. Another report said that a ship of undetermined size was washed on top of Gaisano Supermarket building. “Two truckloads of army soldiers from Catbalogan City were met with surging flood, and were washed away. Only two soldiers survived,” the source said. “Two housing projects near the San Juanico bridge were flooded. Water in the city proper was reported to have reached up to 17 feet. Vehicles were washed away like match boxes," narrated the Post’s source. But the initial reports focused only on Tacloban destruction. Scores of other towns in the coastal areas of Samar and Leyte provinces were believed to have suffered the same fate of Tacloban.

PRESIDENT ORDERS SPEED UP OF RESCUE

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III has ordered all concerned government agencies to intensify search-and-rescue operations and make sure aid reaches people affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). In an interview on People's Television 4, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said their top concern is people's lives and safety. "Sa ngayon, ang prayoridad ay ang buhay at kaligtasan ng ating mga mamamayan. Kaya pag-iibayuhin ang search and rescue and relief operations dahil nga sa pangamba na mayroon pang hindi natutunton na mga casualties dahil sa mga lugar kung saan ay walang kuryente at walang komunikasyon. (For now, our priority is the lives and safety of people. That is why search, rescue and relief operations are intensified. We want to make sure we don't miss anyone, especially those in isolated areas where power and communications are cut off)," Coloma said.

He said President Aquino received an update from Secretaries Voltaire Gazmin (defense) and Manuel Roxas II (interior), who were sent to Tacloban City in Leyte. The two secretaries reported heavy damage there, along with disruptions in power and communications services. Coloma said President Aquino ordered the two to intensify the search, rescue and relief operations on the ground, and ensure no area will be cut off. He added the President instructed Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista to ensure sufficient logistical support. On the other hand, he said the President instructed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. to release P365 million to the Philippine Air Force for maintenance and lubricants for planes. Coloma also said President Aquino ordered Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo to "retrace the storm path" and determine areas of greatest impact.

Montejo was also instructed to recommend concrete solutions to address the problem of disrupted communications during calamities. "Kaya ang atas sa DOST is to propose a secure, all-weather communication system na puwedeng magamit para sa mga kalamidad na ating kinahaharap na madalas sa buong taon (The President wants the DOST to propose a secure, all-weather communication system that can be used during calamities)," he said. Coloma said President Aquino ordered Secretaries Rogelio Singson (public works) and Corazon Soliman (social welfare) to make sure relief goods, especially food, reaches the victims. Singson was particularly instructed to make sure roadblocks are removed. Meanwhile, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said President Aquino expects power and communications to be restored in affected areas soonest.

“Ang instruction ng Pangulo, unahin ang biktima. Ito ang prayoridad ng kanyang naging utos ... Ang una ay abutin ang lahat na lugar na naapektuhan. Pangalawa, siguraduhin na maibalik kuryente at komunikasyon (President Aquino’s instructions were to prioritize the victims. First, he wants aid to reach all those affected. Second, he wants to make sure power and communications are restored),” Valte said Saturday on government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan. She said two C-130 planes had left for Tacloban City early Saturday. The planes are loaded with AFP medical teams, 12,000 pounds of relief goods, and power generators, communications equipment and water purifiers. The Armed Forces of the Philippines also transported telecommunications equipment to the Visayas. “Nakikipag-coordinate tayo sa tatlong telecommunication companies, nag-assure sila they are doing their best to restore signals in the area (We are also coordinating with the three telecommunications companies. They assured us they are doing their best to restore signals in the area),” Valte said. Meanwhile, Valte said the Philippine government thanks US Secretary of State John Kerry for his statement of sympathy and solidarity with Filipinos amid Typhoon Yolanda’s destruction. “Nagpapasalamat tayo sa kaibigan natin na nagpapahayag ng kanilang kakayanang tumulong sa ating mga kababayang nasalanta (We thank our friend who has expressed readiness to help our fellow Filipinos who were affected),” she said.