During daytime, classes are held inside the classrooms while the evacuees stay in the backyard of the school. They were only allowed to use the classrooms after class hours. “We stay here at the back of the classrooms. It’s difficult especially that it is always raining,” Sultan said.

Business Losses and Gains

Because of the typhoon, many businesses incurred losses after having their business establishments buried under the sand or swept away by the flash flood.

The affected baranggays cannot provide an estimated amount of the properties and assets lost during the typhoon.

In Barangay Padang, the Tuanson Concrete Aggregate Corporation, a rock processing company, was buried under several meters of sand. It is believed that the company incurred substantial losses since all its heavy equipment and facilities were damaged and buried by the sand and boulders.

Ironically, some businesses profited after the typhoon. Local residents now resort to the collection of gravel from the debris that buried the baranggays. The gravel is then sold to construction firms in the city.

The number of tourists visiting Bicol also increased. Busay, home to the famous Cagsawa Ruins, tourists have arrived in droves, apparently curious as to the effects of the mudflow on the said tourist spot. “The income is fine. Because of the tourists, I am earning more, but not that much,” Ana Mandane, a food vendor, said.

Letty Arienda, 38, owner of the Binos Funeral Services, had an increase in the number of customers after the typhoon. She said that her clients increased to 200 percent.

Even then, she is still unhappy only one out of her more than 30 missing relatives has been found and given a proper burial. “Sometimes at night, I would hear them calling me and asking for help,” Arienda said, adding that that there is nothing that she can do for the missing relatives but to pray for them. “The rescue operation already stopped and I have no resources to find my relatives.”

Ghost Stories

Because of the hundreds of people who were buried and whose bodies have not yet been recovered, various ghost stories have been heard by the residents.

“Yes, there are ghosts. I hear them at night,” Arienda, a resident of Bigaa, said.

For her part, Mirafuentes of Busay, whose mother Lourdes, 59, died during the typhoon, said, “I believe there are ghosts here because many are still missing.”

Fearful of seeing ghosts, jeepney and bus drivers now hesitate to convey passengers from Padang especially at night.

Asked to comment on this issue, a priest from the St. Gregory cathedral in Albay who requested anonymity said, “I cannot confirm that, but we pray for them (souls).”

A dredging project along the channels of Mayon Volcano is now being done to prevent the occurrence of another tragic incident. In March 2005, a similar government-funded dredging project was completed on the same site.

Nearly two months after the typhoon, residents of Albay still recall the tragic incident that ht their town. Whenever it rains, Bobet, like the other people in Albay, always fear that the similar incident might occur again. (Bulatlat.com)

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