Palo, Leyte isolated, communications still down

(Updated 9:49 p.m.) Residents of Palo, Leyte still have no way to communicate with the rest of the country, GMA reporter Jiggy Manicad reported in "24 Oras Weekend" on Saturday, while holding a bunch of letters that residents wrote for relatives outside the province. 

 

Palo, Leyte along with neighboring towns were reported isolated Friday with communications down and the road blocked by debris.

 

Residents are also in desperate need of water, food, and medicine. Some survivors even resorted to looting, Manicad reported.

 

GMA's camera panned over people gathered where Manicad was reporting to help let their loved ones know that they are safe.

Manicad also reported on the safety of the news teams from the three major TV stations, GMA, ABS-CBN, and TV5.

Church roof blew off

 

GMA News reporter and Leyte native Love Añover broke down on air as she described how Typhoon Yolanda ravaged the town of Palo in a "State of the Nation" report Friday night.

 

Manicad reported seeing 11 dead, including one child, on the shores of Tacloban. Video also showed winds strong enough to snap trees and blow down houses.

 

In Palo, Añover and her team took shelter inside a fortified church, thinking that they would be safe from the wrath of the typhoon.

But they thought wrong. Yolanda blew off the church's roof leaving them exposed to the storm even as they were inside its walls.

Añover said she had never experienced a typhoon that strong before.

 

“Dito talaga po ako lumaki sa Alang-alang Leyte. Talagang itong lugar naman talaga namin ay madalas na binabagyo. Pero yung huli ko pong naramdaman na bagyo dito ay yung bagyong Ondang kung hindi po ako nagkakamali. 1984 po iyon, bata pa po ako. Pero hindi po ganito,” she said.

 

She said being caught in the typhoon was like seeing “the end of the world.”

 

“Yung ikot ng napakalakas na umaatungal yung tunog niya na parang gusto niyang gibain yung buong cathedral nararamdaman namin. Nararamdaman po namin yung pag-alog ng mga pader kung saan kami naka-stay,” she said.

 

The church later housed at least 20 dead bodies washed ashore or found on the streets, Manicad reported.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Saturday 138 people have been confirmed killed in the typhoon, but that figure is almost certain to climb as family members and rescue teams search the wreckage for missing people.

Communications problematic in other areas

• Tacloban
• Aklan
• Biliran
• Capiz
• Eastern Samar
• Leyte
• Antique
• Bohol
• Cebu
• Negros Occidental
• Negros Oriental
• Northern Samar
• Southern Leyte

• Eastern Samar
• Leyte
• Surigao del Norte
• Masbate
• Romblon

— Kim Luces/JDS/HS, GMA News