Calumpit residents remain trapped on roofs, in train station

Raging floods brought by Typhoons Pedring and Quiel last week drove some 250 residents of Calumpit town in Bulacan away from their homes and into an old and beat-up train station. With floodwater around them yet to subside, the villagers have remained trapped inside the train station for almost a week now with little food and even smaller space to move around. "Sa dami namin at sa tagal po nang pagbaba ng tubig baha ay hindi po sapat ang ipinamimigay na relief goods. Nabaha po kami September 30 at hanggang ngayon ay nakalubog pa ro’n ang bahay namin," Leticia Abion told GMA News Online on Tuesday. Abion said her family and more than 50 others have erected tents inside the train station as they wait for the floods to subside. Except for the MacArthur National Highway in Calumpit, the rest of the villages in the city remain submerged flooded, Abion said. “Pedring" and “Quiel," which lashed Luzon only days apart last week, left behind more than 50 people dead and nearly P9 billion in crop and infrastructure damage. Reports of several villagers in nearby barrios getting bitten by snakes make life worse for the trapped villagers. "Nasabi po sa amin dito sa bayan na may mga lumikas daw na galing sa barrio," she said. Reports of the snake biting incidents could not be independently verified as of this posting. In Barangay Corazon, also in Calumpit, people remain trapped on the roofs or the second floor of their houses.
In a report on GMA News’ “24 Oras" newscast, a weeping 79-year-old "Josie" expressed her grief over the unfortunate fate that befell their community. "Matanda na ako. Hindi na ko makakilos ng normal. Nai-iyak ako. Sana hindi na lang ako pinanganak para hindi ko na maranasan ito," she said. Another resident, Teresa Concepcion, also said in the report that they are already running out of water, food, and medicine. Calumpit Mayor James de Jesus said relief workers continue to work non-stop to assist the affected families. "So far, ang dumadating na relief packs dito sa amin ay nasa 33,000 na," De Jesus said in the same television report, stressing that the town needs all the relief assistance they could get. — VS, GMA News