Typhoon Pepeng affects Northern Luzon
Typhoon Pepeng (International Name: Parma) left a swath of destruction through most of Pangasinan and nearby provinces last October 9- 10. The rains fell non-stop through much of Thursday afternoon and Friday, forcing the dams around Northern Luzon to open their gates and release some water to relieve the waters’ pressure. Unfortunately, either through lack of fore warning, or apathy, a lot of people were left unaware, getting themselves caught in the rampaging flood waters.
The massive flooding that resulted inundated even places formerly left untouched by floods, the area around SRBCL being one of them. In all its years of existence the school not once experience any form of flooding except during Pepeng’s wake.
Vigilant of flood alarms, the school’s administration and some of the faculty had more than enough time to transfer important and valuable school equipment and records to safety before six to eight inches of flood water totally covered the school’s ground floor.
Constructed almost a meter higher than the main road SRBCL fared better than most of its neighboring homes and structures. At the height of the storm the school provided shelter to no less than twenty families counting among them a grandmother in her eighties and a two-day old baby.
Not a day passed after the flood waters subsided, SRBCL was able to wipe, scrub, and disinfect all traces of the flood from the premises. So much so that by Sunday, October 11, the school was more than ready to welcome the students back the next day.
