A teenager has recalled the terrifying ordeal of leaping into raging floodwaters, before her father pulled her to safety as the Philippines was battered by a devastating typhoon.
The country is still dealing with the devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed at least 230 people when it struck central regions last week, and Super Typhoon Fung-wong. The second storm killed 18 and displaced 1.4 million as it lashed the north of the country at the weekend.
Oshea Aguirre, 13, was in Cebu, which was among the areas hit hardest by Typhoon Kalmaegi. “I knew if I didn’t jump, I would die,” she told The National from Cebu.
A Facebook video of the girl, crying and crouching on a gate as a black car hits a pillar in front of her submerged home, has been viewed more than 16 million times. Her family was forced to flee their home on November 4 as floodwaters rose. “I can’t swim but I realised I had a higher chance of surviving if I jumped,” she said.
Her father, Aezel Aguirre, called to her from across the muddy water that surged through the community of one and two-storey houses. He grabbed her with one hand and clung to a neighbour’s gate with the other.
“I was very, very scared. I had to tell her, ‘If you don’t jump, you will die,’” Mr Aguirre said. “Survival instinct kicked in because the water was climbing fast, it was almost roof-high. There was no other way, more floating cars were headed her way. We were blessed the water was moving towards me so I could grab her. It was brave of her to jump.”
‘Like a river coming into our house’
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A video of Oshea Aguirre, a Philippine teenager has gone viral that shows her trapped in swirling flood water crouched on a gate near her submerged home in Cebu, Philippines that was hit by Typhoon Fung-wong. Photo: Aezel Aguirre / Facebook -
People across the Cotcot Liloan neighbourhood of Cebu are among tens of thousands who need food supplies and shelter -
The Aguirre family were separated as surging flood waters submerged their home in minutes -
The search for belongings begins a day after the super typhoon claimed at least four lives and caused widespread damage -
The flood waters took hours to subside and people remained on their roofs for more than seven hours -
Aezel Aguirre and his family during a trip to Singapore. Photo: Aezel Aguirre / Facebook -
More than a million people have been displaced as floods damaged homes, triggered mudslides and cut power across the Philippines -
Houses and rice fields are flooded in Tuguegarao City, north of Manila after a river overflowed following heavy rains brought on by Super Typhoon Fung-wong. AFP -
People walk near a wrecked part of the Baler-Casiguran road a day after Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in Dipaculao, Aurora, Philippines. Reuters -
A resident reacts near her flood-hit house in Tuao town, Cagayan province, after Super Typhoon Fung-wong hit the Philippines leaving villages submerged and towns without electricity. AFP
The family had woken up at 5.15am as water gushed into their home. “In less than three minutes, we were in chest-high water,” said Oshea's mother, April. “It was almost impossible to open the front door. We thought we were going to die. It was like a river coming into our house. When I heard my son say, 'I don’t want to die, I’m too young,' I pushed the door again and it miraculously opened.”
Ms Aguirre, 41, held on to her nine-year-old son Joshua as the water carried them to a nearby house. “I saw my daughter on the pillar of the gate, I couldn’t see my husband," she added. "I could only scream, I couldn’t leave my son. I saw her jump but didn’t know if she was alive. After a few minutes, I saw them both on a roof a few houses away."
People across the Cotcot Liloan neighbourhood, in Cebu province, waited on rooftops for more than seven hours until water levels subsided. The area had been spared the storms that ravaged the Philippines earlier in the year.
Mr Aguirre and his family are now living with his parents in a neighbourhood that was not affected by the floods. They returned home only to retrieve belongings.
The structure of their house is safe, but electronics, furniture and clothing have all been ruined. Still, they are grateful to have survived the storm.
Some were not so fortunate. A woman from the community died despite neighbours, including Mr Aguirre, working to rescue three people trapped inside a house.
Support from Dubai
The video of Oshea has led Filipino resident of Dubai and others around the world to send supplies to the family. “Friends working in Dubai have sent us money to help us jump-start our life,” said Ms Aguirre, who runs a business with her husband distributing swimming pool cleaning chemicals.
“We have got help from people we don’t know on social media. Our family too has been very supportive. We are not the only ones needing support – many homes need rebuilding, people need food, water and clothing. We stayed on the roof for seven to eight hours in the wind and rain. There were no rescue teams, we just climbed down when the water subsided.”
Filipinos in the UAE have sent clothing and dry food items to family and friends back home, with 21 storms having pummelled the Philippines this year. “People are directly sending boxes of clothes home because everyone wants to help,” said Josie Conlu, a community volunteer. “People have a heart full of good and want to help those at home.”
