The quake, the epicenter of which was about
138 kilometers east of the town’s island-barangay of Sulangan, started at about
8:47 p.m. Friday, instantly prompting scared residents to go out of their
houses and establishments, shouting and warning others to do the same.
Kwan immediately called up all personnel of
the LGU, the police and even the media to mobilize everything to help the
residents, especially on evacuating them to safer grounds, right after Phivolcs
declared a tsunami alert level 3 at about 9 p.m. over all coastal areas in the
Philippines, facing the Pacific Ocean.
At least 7,000 residents from the coastal
areas of Guiuan were evacuated to higher grounds—two of which were in the
poblacion area (the Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital and the residential compound
of the Mayor).
Personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council quickly traveled to the island-barangay of
Sulangan, linked by a bridge to the mainland, and secured the residents into
the prepared evacuation center.
In the other five island-barangays—Suluan,
Victory, Manicani, Tubabao and Homonhon—separated from the mainland by the
seawaters, the village chiefs were able to evacuate their respective residents
to a center prepared to protect them from any disaster.
There were no reported injuries or casualty
in Guiuan and, while attributing this to God’s miracle, Kwan told The Freeman
that the training of barangay leaders in disaster preparedness programs, as
initiated by the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, had helped a lot in
securing the residents.
All through the tension-filled hours, while the
tsunami alert was up, Kwan kept communication lines open between her and the
barangay leaders and the police, constantly updating themselves of the
situation in the field. When Phivolcs lifted the tsunami alert at around 12:21
am yesterday, Kwan ordered the evacuees to remain in the center for two more
hours before sending them home at around 3 am.
Heavy rains started to fall at about 2 a.m. and
went on intermittently until yesterday afternoon, while Phivolcs told the LGU
that a total of 120 aftershocks occurred yesterday since the earthquake first
struck Friday.
Blackout continued yesterday because some
electric posts of the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative fell in a barangay of Maydolong,
and works on fixing them were still going on to restore power in the province.
Communication lines, especially on cell sites, initially encountered problems
but minutes after the quake it went on unhampered.
There were reports that the Buyayawon Bridge had
cracks, prompting authorities to render it impassable except for one lane that
was allowed open but only to light vehicles.
The Guiuan Water District, for its part, shut
down its supply yesterday morning to check on any damage of pipes along its
line to the consumers and avert contamination if ever. District general manager
Rolando Abrenico said his personnel found cracks on the grounds of the pumping
station at Brgy. Cantajay, a kilometer away from the poblacion, and dusts that
fill these cracks were being drawn out.
The chlorination room of the water district also
had cracks on the wall and these were being resolved, he said. As of 3 pm.
yesterday, the district had restored at least 60 percent of the supply to
consessionaires, mostly in the poblacion.
At 6:45 a.m. yesterday, the mayor led the
residents of Guiuan to a Mass, celebrated by parish priest, Msgr. Lope
Robredillo, to thank God for sparing the town of a possible disaster from the
strong eartquake. “It was a miracle that no one was killed or injured, and
nothing was destroyed,” said the mayor who, along with the residents, also
thanked Mary of the Immaculate Conception and San Antonio de Padua, the
miraculous patron of Sulangan Island, for their divine intervention. By Mel D. Caspe (The Freeman) Updated September 02, 2012 12:00 AM
