Samar residents evacuate to Cave for shelter against Pepito

TACLOBAN CITY – Fearing a destructive storm similar to Yolanda, dozens of families in a coastal village in Marabut, Samar once again turned to their cave for shelter against super typhoon Pepito.

On Friday, two days before the expected landfall of Pepito in the Bicol Region, dozens of families have started to evacuate to Tinabanan Cave as weather reports show that the then potentially strong typhoon was headed for Eastern Visayas.

Baldo said Tinabanan Cave has been the traditional safe haven for the local residents during disasters – either natural or manmade – such as the strong typhoons Yolanda, Ruby and Odette.

At the height of the communist insurgency in the 1990s, village residents would hide inside the cave when news of possible communist attacks spread.

During World War II, the cave also served as a safe refuge for residents against air attacks by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.