Eastern Samar town isolated by “Samuel”; residents ask for relief goods and medicine
Residents of Jipapad, an isolated town in Eastern Samar due to landslide caused by tropical depression “Samuel”, asked for help.
The said town became the “catch basin” for water coming from Oras and Binuwangan Rivers due to heavy rain from the tropical depression.
“Samuel” hit the province earlier this week and it caused a landslide which closed the way to nearby towns in the province.
Based on the report published in Inquirer, the fact that the relief goods were soaked in the rain added to the misery of the affected residents.
The municipal government stored the supplies in the municipal building. Unfortunately flood came in and left all the supplies wet and could no longer be eaten.
Town’s disaster risk reduction and management officer Creonto Mato said the flood brought by Samuel was the worst that Eastern Samara experienced since 2006.
“We are asking for food relief. The people are now hungry. Its ok if it’s only the clothes that were wet as these could be dried. We really need food. We don’t have food supplies for our people as our town was rendered isolated after a landslide occurred in Barangay Roxas,” Mato appealed to the public.
Aside from food supplies, residents there are also asking for medicines. Most likely, the flooding will soon affect the health of the people in Eastern Samar.
Barangay Roxas served as an entry point going to the next town, Arteche, which also suffered from flooding.
“We really need help. Our power and communication lines are still down,” Mato added.
According to him, practically, 13 barangays in Jipapad, with 2,556 families or more than 15,500 individuals, suffered from flooding.
Mato added that their Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office’s initial report stated that tropical depression “Samuel” washed out 35 houses, based on report.
