‘E Samar did not receive advance warning on Seniang’

MANILA, Philippines - The yearend Tropical Storm Seniang that claimed dozens of lives and left hundreds of families homeless in the Visayas and Mindanao could have been avoided had concerned local officials and agencies not been complacent during the holidays.

Catbalogan Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan of Eastern Samar claimed her city did not receive any advance warning on the possible onslaught of Seniang.

Had disaster warnings been issued, Tan said they could have instituted preemptive measures as they had done during Typhoon Ruby earlier last month.

Seniang apparently caused more fatalities than Ruby that struck Eastern and Central Visayas in early December. Ruby left some 18 people dead.

Seniang prompted the evacuation of more than 86,000 people in Surigao del Sur, Bohol and Cebu provinces before weakening into a tropical depression and back to a low pressure area.

Ruby, on the other hand, forced more than 1 million people to flee to shelters in what was described as one of the world’s biggest peacetime evacuations.

As in the case of Typhoon Sendong in December 2012, Seniang brought more rains over a 24-hour period.

This resulted in massive floods and landslides that left 54 people dead, 40 injured and seven missing, according to the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday.

Most of the fatalities came from Barangay Mercedes in Catbalogan City in Samar.  – With Helen Flores, Aurea Calica, Delon Porcalla, Rainier Allan Ronda, Ben Serrano, Roel Pareño