Boracay starts clean-up

ILOILO CITY-- Residents, resort staff and tourists of Boracay Island have started cleaning up the damage wrought by typhoon Seniang, one of the strongest to hit the island in recent years.

Cleaners, including tourists and resort owners, have started removing tree branches, pieces of iron roofs and other debris along the beach and roads. They have also started removing sand blown over the front of beach resorts and restaurants and to the beach pathway.

Electricity, water and internet connection had been restored as of yesterday, two days after the strong winds and heavy rain toppled electric posts, uprooted trees and damaged houses and resorts.

But it will take about two weeks before operations of the popular island-resort will be back to normal, Nenette Aguirre-Graf, president of the Boracay Foundation Inc., a group of owners of resorts, restaurants and other businesses on the island, said.

Transportation between Boracay and Caticlan, the jump-off point from the Aklan mainland, has been hobbled because about 60 percent of passenger boats have been damaged or missing, said Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores in a telephone interview.

Miraflores, who inspected the damage on Monday, said houses, especially those made of light materials were the worst hit. Resorts and restaurants along the beach were damaged.

Residents who lost their homes are temporarily staying at schools or with relatives, said Miraflores.

Senior Insp. Christopher Prangan, acting chief of the Boracay Special Tourist Police Office, said 45 resorts were damaged and 63 passenger motorboats were damaged or missing.

Around 768 houses have been damaged or destroyed in the island's three villages--372 in Yapak, 240 in Balabag and 156 in Manoc-Manoc.

Two boat operators identified as Raffy Andrade Panfilo Navarette died at the height of the typhoon. Two others identified as Mario Magallanes and Edmar Aban remain missing as of yesterday, said Prangan.

Miraflores said the typhoon battered the northwestern area of Aklan especially the towns of Malay, Nabas and Ibajay.

Aklan was placed under a state of calamity late Sunday in a resolution passed during a special session of the provincial board.

Six persons died in Western Visayas, a report of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council said yesterday. Two persons were injured and two remain missing.

The typhoon affected 53 barangays and 3,034 families or 18,475 persons. Around 272 families or 1,584 persons have been evacuated, according to the report.

Seniang destroyed 197 houses destroyed damaged 967 others mostly in Aklan and Capiz provinces. The damage to agriculture was placed at P50.73 million and to infrastructure at P65.18 million.*NPB