Up to 95% of houses in Silago, Southern Leyte damaged due to Tino —mayor

Silago, Southern Leyte Mayor Lemuel Honor on Thursday said 80% to 95% of houses in his town were partially and totally damaged by Typhoon Tino.

“Yung sa bahay, mga 80% to 95% 'yung damage partially o totally,” Honor told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita in an interview.

(In terms of houses, 80% to 95% of houses are partially or totally damaged.)

“At saka sa government infrastructure din, lalo na 'yung paaralan, talagang hindi na mapasukan ng mga estudyante baka nasa 30% to 40%,” he added.

(And also in terms of government infrastructure, especially schools, students are really unable to attend, maybe 30% to 40%.)

Power outages and water supply cuts are still reported. 

Around 12,000 to 14,000 households have no water supply, Honor said. The Silago government is borrowing more water tankers from other local government units to deliver water to more residents.

The restoration of power supply might take time as Silago is the farthest town from the office of the concerned electric cooperative, according to the mayor.

Honor also said that the food supply in the town remained insufficient.

Flood control project

The mayor said their recommended flood control project could have prevented the disaster in Silago.

“In the history, 1952 pa umapaw ang tubig, ang river namin sa bayan. Ngayon, bumalik siya after 73 years,” he said.

(In history, the water overflowed in our river in 1952. Now, it happens after 73 years.)

“Kaya sabi ko, kung naipatayo sana ang flood control dito, yung nire-recommend namin baka hindi siya umapaw. Ang problema, wala. May projects na nilagay dito, pero yun ang problema. Parang naging problema tayo sa flash flood,” he added.

(That's why I said, if flood control had been built here, as we recommend, the river might not have overflowed. The problem is, there is none. There are projects that have been put in place here, but that's the problem. It seems like we have a problem with flash floods.)

Only minor injuries were reported among the affected residents as the local government unit implemented pre-emptive and forced evacuations in light of the threat of the typhoon, Honor said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News