Quezon folk dealing with Karding aftermath

Quezon province residents started rebuilding their homes after Typhoon Karding’s landfall caused massive destruction in the area.

More than 700 houses were damaged in Burdeos, Quezon, according to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO). Many of the damaged houses were in Barangay Carlagan.

Carlagan local Recel Alpay said she traveled for almost an hour by boat to ask for help.

“Lahat po ng bangka sa amin ay basag din po. Mga 600 po, baka 30 ang natira,” Alpay said in Andrew Bernardo’s GMA Regional TV Balitang Southern Tagalog report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday.

(All of the boats were damaged. Of the 600 boats, only 30 were left.)

“Sa lahat po ng nawala sa amin, kalunos lunos po talaga sir wala pong tinira kahit po pangsaing namin nabasa. Pagmulat namin, walong oras. Pagkalipas ng walong oras wala na po lahat lahat sa amin,” she said.

(It left us with nothing, even our rice was washed away. After almost eight hours, everything was gone.)

Some residents temporarily repaired their homes using plastic bags to cover the damaged sections.

“Hangga’t hindi pa po naayos, hindi pa rin po matitirhan. Wala pong magagawa dala ng kalikasan ang kalamidad,” Rachelle Orosco, resident of Burdeos, Quezon, said.

(Until repairs are made we cannot live in it. We cannot do anything. This is a natural calamity.)

“Kami po ay nagtitiis magdamag, narito lang sa loob na mag-ina. Pagtalaga hindi na namin kaya, kami ay alas. Nahingi ng pangbubong ng bahay hindi na mga financial,” Marylou Leynes, another resident in Burdeos, Quezon, said.

(We endured it all night. We asked for materials to fix the house roof, instead of financial assistance.)

Amid the destruction, neighbors helped each other repair their roofs.

“Tulong tulong naman dito ang mga tao, halimbawa may kailangang kunin na karpentero pwede tayo maki-usap sa kanila basta nandyan ang materyales,” resident Marvin Villasenor of Burdeos, Quezon said.

(People are helping each other. For example, if they need a carpenter, we can ask them as long as there are materials.)

In Polillo, Quezon, the typhoon damaged more than 20 houses and caused P3 million in damage to agriculture.

“Isa po sa mga pinaka-affected sa amin ay yung mga nasa coastal areas na mga kabahayan dahil doon sa storm surge na naexperience po namin,” Polillo Quezon Mayor Angelique Bosque said.

(Among the most affected households are those living in the coastal areas because of the storm surge that we experienced.)

The PDRRMO said electricity was not yet restored in five areas of the Polillo Group of Islands, including General Nakar.

Karding made landfall on Sunday in Burdeos, Quezon as a super typhoon. It then made a second landfall on Sunday in Aurora as a typhoon.

Karding dumped heavy rains and caused flooding as it traversed the Luzon landmass before exiting the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Monday night. — Richa Noriega/DVM, GMA News