TYPHOON HITS ARCHDIOCESE OF COTABATO

TYPHOON HITS ARCHDIOCESE OF COTABATO

Thousands of families rushed to find shelter in different evacuation
centers around the Archdiocese of Cotabato when Typhoon "Frank" hit and
devastated this part of the country last June 21, 2008. Frank's strong
winds destroyed thousands of houses and the continuous rain left a vast
area of the archdiocese submerged in floodwaters.

In Shariff Kabunsuan province alone there were more than ten thousand
families that sought refuge in crowded evacuation centers because their
houses were either toppled by strong winds or carried away by the
floodwaters that overflowed from the surrounding rivers. The strong
current and the rapid rising of water levels particularly of Simuay River
and Rio Grande de Mindanao made the residents leave their houses and
properties for fear of endangering their lives. The devastation of the
typhoon was so vast that even the low-lying barangays in Cotabato City
were not spared from the flooding.

Tacurong Vicariate also reported damages by Typhoon Frank especially rice
fields in the area. Fr. Bong Bacero, DCC, Parish Priest of Lambayong
Parish, said that more than 4,000 families from 13 barangays of his parish
were affected by the typhoon. He said Typhoon Frank hit his parish very
badly that many of his parishioners lost their crops and other properties
including their houses. "Typhoon Frank really devastated my parishioners.
It left six thousand hectares of rice fields underwater," he said.

While it is true that the damage made by Typhoon Frank to thousands of
families in the archdiocese was so great it also became an opportunity for
parishes to awaken everyone to help others who are in dire need. Calls
for donations either in cash or in kinds were done in all the parishes in
order to help the victims. Piso Serbisyo played an important role in
providing and distributing medicines, bottled drinking water, clothes and
other relief goods to those who flock the evacuation centers. Different
task forces were also organized in different parishes to help the victims
in their needs and to help hasten the rehabilitation of the flooded areas.

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