BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Residents in this province have displayed their resilience amid the devastation wrought by floods.
Two days after the province’s 11 towns and city were inundated, things were almost back to normal on Tuesday except that people, such as those in Balanga City and Abucay, worked to remove the thick mud and garbage left behind by floods.
Armed with shovels and stick brooms, the residents cleaned the inside of their houses and streets.
“Pinakamalaking baha ito na naranasan namin. Kailangan naming maglinis agad para bumalik na sa normal ang buhay namin. (This is the biggest flood that we have experienced. We need to clean immediately so that our lives will be back to normal),” one of the residents in Abucay said.
Heavy rains, brought by tropical storm Josie and the southwest monsoon, caused many villages in this province to be submerged under one-half foot to more than six feet of floodwater last week.
The affected towns were Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay, Mariveles, Bagac and Morong and the City of Balanga.
Hard-hit were Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Samal, Abucay and Balanga.
Partial reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) showed that more than 2,000 persons were affected, with many brought to evacuation centers at the height of the floodings.
Six individuals were reported to have died as a result of the calamity.
Two of them perished after they were hit by a concrete fence that collapsed; a six-year-old boy drowned and an adult was electrocuted, all in Balanga City.
In Hermosa, another person drowned while a seven-year-old child died after being buried in mud and debris when their house was hit by a landslide in Mariveles.
The PDRRMO reported that two houses were damaged by a fallen tree in Pilar and another two by landslides in Mariveles. (Ernie Esconde/PNA)
