John Kenneth E. Ching and Princess E. Tolentino
December 18, 2011, 2:53 pm
With its command center situated at the former Agriculture Satellite Canteen, Tabang Sendong mobilizes its volunteers to affected areas in and around the city. About 600 volunteers, mostly from the XU community, enlisted in the relief operations.
As of 7 pm, student and faculty volunteers are able to distribute goods to 4,011 families. These families received donations of food, clothing, potable water, and medicine among others. Also, Tabang Sendong is able to raise P 290,943.60 worth of monetary donations and pledges.
The university covered courts also serves as an evacuation center for families affected by the flash floods spawned by the typhoon. As of 10:30 pm, the covered courts houses 400 people, 117 of them are minors. The evacuees consist of affected members of the XU community and victims from nearby areas (e.g. Tambo, Biasong, and Tibasak).
Sendong made landfall to the northern coast of Mindanao and some Visayan islands on Saturday. The typhoon caused extensive human and property loss, with the hardest hit areas at major cities Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
The city was caught in a state of shock as water level rose alarmingly quick early of December 17. Rain started pouring nonstop for 12 hours on the afternoon of December 16.
Electricity and water supply were cut off as trees, buildings and pipes were damaged. Cellphone lines were also temporarily paralyzed, causing communication constraints that limited the spread of information within the city. It was only until the electricity went back on Saturday afternoon that people uptown became aware of the flood in the city proper.
The areas in Cagayan de Oro that were hit the hardest are Consolacion, Macasandig, Tibasak, Balulang, Carmen, Kauswagan, Macabalan and Iponan.
As of press time, the Philippine National Red Cross listed the number of dead at 652 and more a missing.
Eight people from the XU community perished in the disaster. They are Mrs. Naives Arcadio (former Agriculture librarian), Mrs. Caridad Monserrata (former Assistant Registrar), Mrs. Nenen Yrastorza (former Office of the President secretary), Ms. Tish Yrastorza, Ms. Hannah Tancongco (BSBA-4 student), Ms. Joanne Cañete (XUHS, 1st year), Mr. Caezar Hojas (Haggerty House staff) and Ms. Michelle Adeline Padilla (MBA-1 student).
