BALANGA CITY — This province was engulfed by massive fl ood Sunday where many areas in 11 towns and a city turned into a waterworld.
Water solely coming from the mountains and water from both seas and the mountains caused by heavy rainfall brought by tropical storm Josie and the southwest monsoon submerged many villages from one-half foot to more than six feet.
The affected towns were Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay, Mariveles, Bagac and Morong and the City of Balanga.
Hard hit were Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Samal, Abucay and Balanga. No complete data are yet available from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) but partial reports showed more than 2,000 persons were affected with many brought to evacuation centers at the height of the flood.
Six individuals so far were known to have died because of the calamity.
Two died after they were hit by a collapsed concrete fence, a six-year old boy died of drowning and an adult died of electrocution, all in Balanga City.
An adult died of drowning in Hermosa while a 7-yearold boy died after he was buried in mud and adobe when their house was hit by a landslide in Mariveles.
PDRRMO reported that two houses were damaged by a fallen tree in Pilar and another two by landslides in Mariveles.
But the real story is not about the devastation wrought by the flood but the resilient spirit of Filipinos shown by Bataan residents.
On Monday and Tuesday, the flood had gone in most areas but it left thick mud and garbage like in Balanga City and Abucay.
Residents worked as one, holding shovels and anything to remove the mud inside their houses and the streets.
And pronto, the communities were back to almost normal again on Tuesday as if nothing happened.
