Government tests evacuation skill

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Residents of eastern Philippines went on a massive and near simultaneous evacuations in recent history on Friday, March 11, prompted by government tsunami warning but mainly driven by fear of a replication of broadcast images of the devastating tsunami in eastern Japan.

Residents packed belongings and tucked children and either walked or ride on available vehicles of various types and sought safe promontories across highways, and Rebecca Lopez, officer in charge of the Office of Civil Defense said that the order for enforced evacuation was mainly carried out by the barangay leaders in coastal villages.

Radio reports gave varying, often high, figures of evacuation from those of government account, in the two Surigao provinces, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur, all facing the Pacific Ocean.

A radio broadcast said about 15,000 residents have evacuated the many coastal towns of Surigao del Sur, and 4,000 from Sta. Cruz and 14,000 from Malita, all of Davao del Sur.

The disaster centers of Davao del Sur gave lower figure. In her report to the Philippine Information Agency, Adelaida Badilla of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Center, said 2,270 residents evacuated six coastal barangays in Sta. Cruz  and sought safety in ten evacuation centers. They returned to their villages by 2:00 am Saturday, March 12, after the alert was lifted at midnight.

Jose Abad Santos town administrator, Atty. Jason John Joyce, also in his report to the PIA, said the town was yet to estimate the number of residents who evacuated but added that they have returned home before midnight.

Ester Hermosisima of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office reported to the PIA that “hundreds of coastal residents in Malita this province have also returned home before midnight.

Many of the towns in Surigao del Sur sought shelter in municipal gymnasiums, although it was not clear if these places were located in higher grounds.

Mindanao though is dotted with mountains and many of the coasts were near foothills of mountains, especially in the eastern side.

The tsunami alert was the second to be issued within 13 months, after the government also issued the same warning in February last year, when Chile was hit by an 8.8 magnitude quake. Chile is located to the infamous Pacific rim of fire, where countries dotting the peripheries of the world’s largest ocean are mostly carved out of volcanoes, or have active volcanoes.  The rim spans from South America to east Asia.

In last year’s tsunami warning, it was uncertain though how many coastal villages were vacated by residents.

On Friday, the OCD issued the tsunami warning of preparation for evacuation but Lopez said that “We gave the advisory at 4:00 pm of tsunami alert of a likelihood of tsunami between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm,” she told BusinessMirror.

She said it was the barangay leaders who would determine an enforced evacuation.

Broadcast images of massive sea waves swarming and washing away houses, vehicles, ships and planes appeared to have stricken fear among residents.

In Agdao, the city’s largest slum colony with more than 100,000 residents along the coastal strip at the edge of eastern downtown, some residents sent mobile text messages to their friends describing how neighbors have panicked. There were no report though of violence or persons hurt.

In Bunawan, 24 kilometers north of downtown and near Panabo City of Davao del Norte, some residents living in stilt houses were forced to evacuate by other residents after they noted quick surges of high and low tides. With other residents, they went to the higher ground about seven kilometers inward from the national highway.

In Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, Badilla said that while the provincial government did not issue an evacuation order after the tsunami alert was raised to Level 2, or evacuation was recommended already, “people evacuated by their own will to higher grounds”.

She told the PIA that this prompted MDRRMC to set up 10 evacuation centers for the residents of barangays Bato, Zone 4, Zone 3, Astorga, Darong and Inawayan.

Badilla said the municipal government and the disaster council sent advisories and warning on the tsunami alert at 3:30 pm yesterday to barangay captains and residents of the 11 coastal barangays.

The night evacuation has also prompted Jose Abad Santos, the southernmost town of Davao del Sur, to ask power utilities to extend service beyond midnight to help residents and local government authorities cope with emergency situation. This town has 23 coastal barangays.

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