Typhoon Pablo Hit Comval

A typhoon is a large, powerful and violent tropical cyclone. it is a low

pressure area rotating counterclockwise and containing rising warm air that forms
over warm water in the Western Pacific Ocean. Less powerful tropical cyclones are
called Tropical Depression and Tropical Storms. A typhoon is called a hurricane in
the Atlantic Ocean, a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and wily-wily in Australia.
Typhoons can inflict terrible damage due to thunderstorms, violent winds,
torrential rain, floods, landslides, large and very big waves associated with storms
surges.
The Province of Compostela Valley isn't so well known to be a place prone
of typhoon, they have an abundant living because they are rich in natural resources.
Comval is a place that everybody must visit because of its beautiful sceneries that
other provinces doesn't have, but in just a click of a second all of those were gone
when the first ever typhoon hit Comval.

Blown in the wind. Deaths in flash floods that were what happened during the
typhoon Pablo last 5 years ago. Typhoon Pablo made landfall in Mindanao on Dec
4, 2012, and is considered one of the worst typhoons to hit the island. Mostly
affected were the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, where the
strong typhoon caused massive flooding and landslides that killed many. It could
have been the most destructive typhoon to hit the country recently, that is, until
Yolanda came. The provincial government of Comval conducted a survey and
interviewed people to testify on what really happened during the typhoon.

According to the primary source I have gathered from the Provincial Capitol
of Compostela Valley. It was the 4th of December, 2012 when Typhoon Pablo
(internally known as Bopha) struck Compostela Valley. Among the towns affected,
it was New Bataan (New Andap) that suffered the strongest beating. Many
residents died and disappeared after the typhoon. Typhoon Pablo left Andap buried
under the pile of rocks and boulders. A big part of the once economically vibrant
center (locally referred to as sentro) where the barangay hall, school and many
houses stood was converted into a riverbed. As of the moment, one can hardly find
any remnant of the disaster. Most residents attribute their fast recovery to the
support extended by different government agencies, non-government organizations
and independent volunteers. The residents, along with the help of local artist
Kublai Milan built the "Tower of Hope" to commemorate the disaster that left
many residents yangkamatay (dead) and yangkatabug (missing).

One Mandaya elder shared in one of our conversations when I visit

Provincial Capitol that disaster as harsh as Pablo happens once every one hundred
year. I asked him if there is the same tragedy happened before in Andap. He
replied that their elders before also shared about a tragedy that happened a hundred
years ago.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services

Administration (PAGASA) said typhoon Pablo, forecasted to be the most powerful
storm to hit this year, has entered the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR). The
weather bureau said typhoon Pablo entered PAR at 6:00 p.m. on December 2, 2012
(Sunday). It was located 900 kilometers east of Hinatuan City, Surigao del Sur.
The typhoon is expected to affect Mindanao and Visayas, as well as areas in
Southern Tagalog and Metro Manila, Pagasa earlier said. "Pablo" is expected to
make landfall over Surigao del Norte on Tuesday morning. Based on a 4:00 p.m.
report, the typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per
hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 220 kph. It is also forecast to move west
northwest at 22 kph. PAGASA weather division chief Robert Sawi said floods and
landslides are possible in Surigao, Davao, Compostela Valley, Misamis, Bukidnon,
Lanao, Zamboanga, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay and Mindoro.

In its latest report, the NDRRMC said the biggest number of deaths came
from Region XI, particularly Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley. At least 253
died in these areas due to flash floods and landslides. Davao Oriental Gov.
Corazon Malanyaon said four people were confirmed dead while 24 others were
feared to have also been killed when Pablo hit the province at dawn on Tuesday.
“Of the 29, four have been confirmed. The rest, we still have to verify with reports
coming from the ground,” Malanyaon told the Inquirer by phone. The reports, the
governor said, came from social welfare offices and police officers in Boston,
Manay, Baganga, Caraga and Cateel towns. “This is very depressing,” Malanyaon
said. She added that it was impossible for them to check on the reports yesterday
because the roads were impassable due to landslides and fallen trees along the road
leading to the towns.

Gov. Arturo Uy of Compostela Valley confirmed in a GMA News TV

interview that 33 people drowned in New Bataan town. Uy said the bodies were
retrieved at 5:30 p.m. “It was totally unexpected,” Uy said. Flooding reached the
barangay hall and the health center that were supposed to be on high ground. “We
never expected the waters to be that strong, the rescue team was only able to enter
the area at 4:30 p.m.,” he said. In the neighboring Compostela town, Provincial
Board Member NeriBarte reported a woman and her two children were killed in a
landslide.

In Davao Oriental, where Pablo made landfall, residents said the wind was
so strong it sent coconut trees falling like logs cut by chainsaws. Flordeliz
Bantolinao, a teacher in Baganga, Davao Oriental, said a neighbor died in a house
crushed by a coconut tree. Bantolinao said, by her estimate, 90 percent of houses in
her village, Baculin, had either been destroyed or damaged. Bantolinao said in a
phone interview that in a 10-hectare plantation in her village, all the coconut trees
were felled. She said other villages in Baganga, especially in the town center,
could have suffered the same fate, if not worse, but she had no way of knowing for
sure because the roads leading to the villages and the center of town had been
blocked by fallen trees. “Everything is gone, houses, crops,” Bantolinao said. She
said the typhoon victims urgently needed food. Baganga, which faces the Pacific
Ocean, is some 100 kilometers from the capital city of Mati. Emmalyn Oliveros of
the Davao Oriental civil defense office, said the extent of damage in the province
could not be known immediately because of downed communications. Oliveros
confirmed the death of a 5-year-old child, Errol Lintuan, of Barangay Tubaon in
Tarragona town. Lintuan was killed when a tree fell on his family’s house around 5
a.m. Tuesday.

Another primary source I have interviewed is the brother of my grandfather

who is a resident in New Bataan before and a resident in Mawab now. According
to tatay Feliciano also known as tatay Heng, his son died because of the incident
and his wife becomes missing until now, he said that it was early in the morning
around 3:00 am strong winds and heavy rains had occurred, he woke up his wife
and youngest son because the rain and winds isn't normal anymore. Tatay Heng
went out to go to the other house and get his daughter and his grandchildren
because her daughter's husband wasn't there for it was in his work in Panabo City.
When he reach her daughter's house, the wind and rain becomes more and more
stronger that made the reason why he didn't able to come back to their home, they
struggled due to the typhoon, after the incident he went back to their house but it
was gone anymore, their home including his son was concealed by mud, rocks and
boulders but he didn't know where his wife is, tatay Heng said that it was the worst
experience he had encountered since then.

It was the biggest devastation ever happened in the province of Compostela

Valley. It was an unexpected phenomenon. Pablo moved swiftly on its predicted
path, sending roofs flying off houses, hectares of coconut trees tumbling, rivers
bursting their banks, church bells ringing and sirens wailing in a large part of
Mindanao where the Category 5 storm passed.

No one had really anticipated that this kind of phenomenon will occur in our
province. The municipality of Mawab had also experienced some devastation,
many houses was destroyed, many plants and power pole had fell because of the
said typhoon, but despite of that, all the people in Comval remain strong and do
their best to cope up their needs and to start something new. In life there is so
much surprises, we will never know what comes after so we need to expect the
unexpected because nothing's permanent only the word "change" is consistent.
New Bataan before Typhoon Pablo
New Bataan During Typhoon Pablo
New Bataan Now
References:

 https://www.rappler.com/nation/17304-pablo-at-least-274-dead-in-davao-
comval
 https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/318449/typhoon-pablo-pounds-
mindanao#ixzz5Tm16QkN7

Other References:

 Facts from the Provincial Capitol of Compostela Valley

 Face to face interview