HISTORICAL ARTICLE

THE HORRENDOUS
TRAGEDY CAUSED
BY TYPHOON
PABLO

Submitted by:
DIXIE DAME D. POLINIO
Submitted to:
JOHN CYRIL PAGATPAT
 THE HORRENDOUS TRAGEDY CAUSED
BY TYPHOON PABLO
The Typhoon Pablo recognized as “Typhoon Bopha” internationally, has gone
down as the strongest known tropical cyclone to ever hit the “Typhoon Free” island of
Mindanao. The typhoons landfall brought strong winds with an average of 185
kilometers per hour (kph) with gusts reaching 210 kph which was recorded as a super
typhoon in its 5th category by US meteorological experts. On November 25, 2012,
typhoon Pablo was formed and was expected to land on December 4, 2012 in which its
eye would cross Mindanao through Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Agusan del
Sur, Bukidnon, and Misamis Oriental.

Days before its landfall, people in the places where the typhoon would land were
given advanced warnings and preparations by the authorities of their communities about
the certain disaster. But in spite the given precautions, Pablo caused heavy damage in
Mindanao which caused 1,067 deaths, 834 missing, and P37 billion worth of damage to
agriculture and infrastructure. Compostela Valley was recorded with the highest number
of deaths at 612, followed by Davao Oriental which recovered 395 dead bodies mostly
from the coastal towns of Cateel and Baganga where the typhoon made landfall. While
the Municipality of New Bataan suffered 128 mortality rate and 450 missing people.

The Phenomenal Event brought by Typhoon Pablo which leads to a widespread

destruction who then took hundreds of lives where mostly because of the Debris Flow.
This debris flow was a rapid downward moving mass of material that was fluid and was
just like wet cement. The debris flow mass was composed of boulders, gravel, and sand
which has an estimated speed of 30-60 kph as it goes down. The boulder piled up to as
thick as 8-9m and is mixed up with waters due to heavy rain that caused flooding which
enclosed 13 km and an area of 2,472 hectares in Barangay Andap, New Bataan. The
flow washed away trees and houses then drag people into different places which were
kilometers away from where they were located first. It also formed scour marks which

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created new river channels. The strong wind of Pablo is one of the contributory factors
which led to the generation of the debris flow.

Hours after the adversity brought by Typhoon Pablo, the damages was very
salient especially in the Municipality of New Bataan in Compostela Valley. Almost all of
the houses were destroyed because of the strong winds along with the floods due to the
debris flow. It can be seen in the pictures on the next page (Page 4) on how the debris
buried the Municipality of New Bataan especially in Barangay Andap. It was very
devastating because it is not only the houses which were buried but also the people
inside it. The struggle of the adults, grandparents, and those babies who were just
months old were unimaginable as they strive to survive but was not given a chance
because of this horrible disaster. But in every struggle, there still a thing that we call
hope and miracle which were proven by the survivors of the disaster. It is shown below
the story of a typhoon Pablo survivor on how she survived that certain phenomenal
event. The story was from the Uswag Comval Magazine Special Issue- Part I.

“A little girl who turned 3 years old spent her lonely birthday at the New Bataan
National High School evacuation center on December 15, 2012 with her father, Jason
Taballeja, 27, who was in Maragusan during the Typhoon Pablo. When the event
happened on December 4, the little girl was with her mother and her six months old
brother. When the debris started to flow, they were carried away by the flood which
brought them in different places which also separated them. On the next day three
o’clock in the afternoon, the rescuers who were searching for survivors found the little
girl near the Cogonon Bridge who was screaming and was totally covered with mud and
eyes closed. They believed that during the flash flood, the little girl was holding tightly to
a tree which brought her safe to where she was found almost 36 hours later.” (A story of
a survivor named Jieanne Tanduyan Taballeja)

It was an unforgettable moment and a reality that tragedy caused by natural

disasters could happen anytime and anywhere in an unexpected moment. And for those
people who suffered and struggled during the Super Typhoon Pablo, it’s like a
nightmare they don’t want to remember and a sad story they won’t tell anymore,
because that phenomenal event only caused them fear and pain.

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 But in that hopeless situation, one can say that the world is still full of caring
people as various donations and other forms of assistance were given to them starting
from food, drinking water, and cash donations up to the presence of task force teams
and volunteers who have helped them rise again from their downfall. And with the
situation of the evacuees, the Provincial Health Team along with the WASH Team
(Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) conduct a medical and surgical outreach to help watch
the health status of every evacuees and also monitor the water resources and conduct
information, education, and communication on the proper hygiene and sanitation. And
after months of hardships by the government in building their new houses, the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) turn-over an estimated of
1,265 houses in the known 5 hard hit Municipalities in Compostela Valley which were
the towns of Monkayo, Montevista, New Bataan, Compostela and Laak. The houses
were given to those Typhoon Pablo victims who are known to have a totally damaged
houses.

This phenomenal event only gives lessons for the people to not disregard
disasters like typhoon even if they know it’s only weak or strong. People should have
better understanding on what to do during a phenomenal event like natural disasters.
And it is very important to realize that people should listen to what authorities would say
when this event happen because they know better on what to do with our safety. And
for those victims of typhoon Pablo, it may not be easy but they need to stand up and
look for what tomorrows going to bring.

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SATELLITE IMAGE: BARANGAY ANDAP, NEW BATAAN

2010 2013

TURNED OVER HOUSES

NEW BATAAN, COMVAL BAGANGA, DAVAO ORIENTAL 4