
OFFICES and faculties at UST distributed food packs to Thomasians stranded in their dormitories on Wednesday, July 24, as heavy flooding forced most food establishments around the campus to close and made roads nearly impassable.
On Wednesday night, a truck from Manila’s Department of Public Services roamed the four streets surrounding the Sampaloc campus and gave dinner packs containing a luncheon meat meal with rice and bottled water.
The effort was led by the Purchasing Office, Office for Student Affairs, Office of the Secretary General, Communications Bureau, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
LOOK: Students stranded in Dapitan dormitories because of flooding in the area receive food packs through a project initiated by the Office for Student Affairs, Purchasing Office, Communications Bureau, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, as… pic.twitter.com/ZE7oaDfCGu
— The Varsitarian (@varsitarianust) July 24, 2024
Road-level food establishments closed as floodwaters entered their buildings, including those at the UST Carpark, which experienced ankle-to-knee-deep flooding.
Delivery service options like Grab Food and FoodPanda were also limited due to the difficulty of navigating the flooded Sampaloc roads.
Several Thomasians stranded in their dorms were in Manila to complete their internships, but the southwest monsoon rains, intensified by “Carina,” which was downgraded from super typhoon to typhoon at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, prevented them from doing so.
Ysabel Bacani, an incoming microbiology senior, said the prolonged heavy rains hindered her from going out to purchase essentials, let alone traveling back to her home in Pampanga.
“In the five years I’ve lived in Manila, this is one of the most terrifying typhoons I’ve experienced,” she told the Varsitarian.
“I was staying in my dormitory to complete the final hours of my internship at UST. I was supposed to finish my internship by Friday, but due to the heavy rain and flooding, it has been extended until next week,” she added.
Bacani rents a unit at a high-rise dorm along España Boulevard, which was mostly impassable on Wednesday, especially for light vehicles, because of knee-to-waist-deep floodwaters.
“The closure of nearby stores where we usually buy ready-to-eat food has been challenging for many residents, as we typically rely on these stores for our daily meals,” she said.
Incoming psychology senior Hazel Andres was also in Manila to complete the required hours for on-the-job training (OJT), but the downpours beginning Tuesday forced her to leave work early.
“Originally, I still had to finish my internship at the office of my OJT company until this Friday,” she told the Varsitarian. “Today (Wednesday), I told my supervisor that I wouldn’t be able to go to the office due to the nonstop rainfall and flood, and was allowed to stay in my dorm.”
Flooding inside the UST campus has subsided, but onsite classes and work remained suspended on Thursday, with Metro Manila still under a state of calamity.
“Carina,” which weakened back into a typhoon after being elevated yesterday into the super typhoon category,” has exited the Philippine area of responsibility, according to the state weather bureau.
It left behind a death toll of at least 14 people. The typhoon-induced rains affected over a million Filipinos, 51,726 of whom were still sheltered in evacuation centers, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Amador Denzel M. Teston with reports from Fernando Pierre Marcel B. Dela Cruz, Sydney Venice V. Berba, Diana Mae B. Cabalo and Jenna Mariel A. Gonzales