TABUK, Kalinga — Typhoon "Rosita" (Yutu) pummeled this province starting past midnight Monday, literally washing away one whole school, submerging another up to the ceiling, and leaving at least one house totally wrecked and 18 other residential buildings partially damaged as of Tuesday afternoon.
As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 30), three out of four school buildings of Dacalan Elementary School in Tanudan town were left "hanging" on the mountain, after these were submerged in flood water that came from overflowing Tanudan river.
Tanudan Mayor Johnwell Tiggangay said the last building standing on the ground was half-submerged in the murky water.
But before the buildings of the school were washed away, residents in the area tried to move out and save classroom chairs and other school equipment at midday.
Tiggangay added the entire compound of another school in town, the Lubo Elementary School in Barangay Lubo, was under water as of this posting.
The mayor said that no residents in Tanudan were evacuated, as the houses are located on top of the mountain, much higher than where the schools were located.
But several residential buildings in other towns in Kalinga were damaged. One house was reportedly totally wrecked in Lubuagan town. Ten other houses were partially damaged in Lubuagan and eight others were also partially damaged in Pasil town, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC).
No injury has been reported so far in Kalinga province, which has been placed under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 2 since Monday.
The province was placed on red alert as of Tuesday morning.
By 3 p.m., the Kalinga PDRRMC reported that 25 barangays in the seven municipalities and one city in the province had evacuated 610 families or 1,865 persons.
Even before Sunday, public school teachers in Kalinga were ordered to surrender their classroom keys, so the schools could be used as evacuation centers.
Classes in the province have been suspended since Monday.
Kalinga is on the northern part of Cordillera, adjacent to Cagayan and Isabela, where “Rosita” was expected to pass.
The province was among the hardest hit by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) in mid-September, with a large portion of its rice plantation flooded and damaged.
Residents, however, have described "Rosita" as worse than "Ompong." (PNA)
