Officials worried that if the rains return, they could bring more floods if reservoirs burst.
“We’re hoping that there will be no more breaching of the dams,” Gordon said. “That’s one of the things that are very disconcerting to many people right now.”
Fidelino said many Filipinos aren’t sure if the flooding was caused by the typhoon or by the opening of dams. “It was so sudden,” he said. “It was sort of a flash flood.”
The floodwaters contained all sorts of animals as well — snails, snakes, Lim said. Two crocodiles escaped from the zoo, she said — “it’s funny, but it’s scary.”
“I’m happy that I’m a lot better off than so many other people I see on TV, clinging to electric posts, electric wires, so they won’t be carried away (by the water),” she said. “I have friends who are still missing their siblings, missing their dogs.”