CATARMAN, Northern
Samar – It could have been a dark welcome for Year 2007 in Northern
Samar had it not been for the efforts of the local Northern Samar
Electric Cooperative (NORSAMELCO) to do everything just to bring back
power into the province which was recently hit by heavy rains causing
floods in some towns.
Nearly two hours
before the strike of
12 midnight, people in Catarman were heard shouting with joy as Christmas blinkers
and hundreds of homes were seen all lighted up to welcome Year 2007.
The province was without power for more than three days after it was
hit by floods last Friday just two days before the end of the year.
Continuous heavy rains
caused by the tail end of the cold front and the easterly wave
severely affected thirteen barangays of Catarman Poblacion forcing
residents to flee to higher grounds. About four thousand evacuees
sought refuge at the Catarman Cathedral while scores of others went to
the nearest school houses and barangay halls.
According to PIA
Northern Samar staff Ailene N. Diaz who volunteered in attending to
the needs of the evacuees at the Cathedral, the Catarman Parish led by
Bishop Emmanuel Trance and members of the religious sector joined
hands in providing food to the evacuees. Since kitchen facilities at
the Cathedral could not meet the immediate cooking demand at the
height of the evacuation, members of the religious sector particularly
the Couples for Christ distributed rice to the nearby homes to be
cooked and later picked up by the volunteers.
Other towns were
severely hit by floods. These are the towns of Mondragon, San Roque,
Pambujan, Catubig, Las Navas, Bobon, and Lope de Vega, Silvino Lobos
suffered landslides including some barangays of Mondragon.
