Town where Karding made the first landfall survives a super typhoon

PHILIPPINES | September 29 — Burdeos, where Super Typhoon Karding (international name Noru) made the first landfall, is thankful that there is not much damage in their municipality.

“But our assessment is still ongoing,” says Burdeos Mayor Freddie Aman.

Super Typhoon Karding was packed with maximum sustained wind speeds of 195km/h when it made its first landfall in Burdeos town in Polillo Island, Quezon Province on the afternoon of September 25.

“Burdeos still has no electricity and relies on a generator. However, communication is now back, and most roads are passable,” stated Renato Salas, World Vision assessment team lead for Quezon province.

Salas added that one of the challenges in assessing the town is the distance of most villages to one another. “Some communities can only be travelled by boats for two to three hours,” explained Salas.

World Vision, along with UN Agencies and other non-governmental organizations, recently visited several villages in Burdeos municipality. World Vision and UNFPA team went to the coastal town of Mabini which can only be reached by a motorized boat in 1.5 hours.

Shania, 8, who lives in Mabini recalls her experience during the onslaught of Super Typhoon Karding in her village. “I remember the wind was strong. It was also noisy outside. I don’t like that sound.” Her family evacuated in a nearby two-storey house made of bricks.

A Grade 3 student, Shania said they still have no classes because their school’s roofs were damaged. “I don’t know when will be back to school. My teacher hasn’t told us anything yet.”

Local officials in Mabini said that they already evacuated the people to designated evacuation centers before Karding’s landfall.

Karding exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility in the evening, the following day, September 26.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported around 176,000 affected families based on the latest September 29 data. Damage to agriculture and infrastructure were estimated to be around Php173M and Php23M, respectively.