Vice-President Leni Robredo on Saturday said the rainfall volume brought about by Typhoon Ulysses caught many of the victims she spoke with by surprise.

Robredo inspected areas badly hit by the storm, including Bicol, Rizal and Marikina and brought relief items, including hot meals and mattresses.

Some of the residents in Rodriguez town, Rizal, she said in a Teleradyo interview, climbed roofs because of heavy flooding.

"Ang kwento nila, parang naging sumbungan ako, ang kwento nila wala talagang rume-rescue. Ilang oras sila sa bubong nila, karamihan sa kanila nakababa lang noong bumaba ng kaunti ang baha, at sumuong sila noong hanggang dibdib na lang ang baha," she said.

(They told me no rescue arrived. They stayed for hours on rooftops and were only able to climb down when the flooding subsided up to their chests).

Robredo's team also visited Barangay Tumana, which was caught unprepared by Ulysses' deluge.

• READ: 'Ulysses' brings catastrophic floods to Luzon, draws 'Ondoy' comparisons

"Ang problema nila ngayon ang dami nilang nare-receive na warnings from NDRRMC, 'yung mga tinetext. Pero 'yung karamihan daw na nababasa nila storm surge sa Pasay sa Manila, Paranaque, Navotas," Robredo said.

"Walang sinasabing amount of rainfall na darating sa kanila. Wala silang napapanood na source of information na ganoon ang mangyayari."

(They were receiving text warnings from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. But the text messages were about storm surge warnings in Pasay, Manila, Paranaque, Navotas. No amount of rainfall was indicated. They had no source of information on what could possibly happen.)

Robredo said Marikina officials only started to make evacuation mandatory when they heard the first alarm in Marikina River.

"Pero ang kaibahan nito sobrang bilis, parang magkakasunod first, second, third. Dati it takes a while bago makarating sa second. Ito 'Yung naghahanda pa lang inabot na sila ng baha sa bahay nila," she said.

(It went from first to third alarms really fast. In the past, it took a while before the alarm escalates to second. This time, water came in flowing into their houses while residents were still preparing to evacuate.)

Robredo said the same thing happened in Barangay Nangka where they visited to distribute relief goods.

"Parati naman daw silang binabaha pero ngayon daw sobrang bilis, kulang sa impormasyon na ganoon kagrabe . . . Iyon ang sinasabi nila. Parang general na kuwento nila. Kahit sa Bicol, ganoon din ang sinasabi," Robredo said.

(Flooding isn't new to some of them, but these days they had no information that the flooding would be that severe . . . That's what they're saying. Even in Bicol, that's what they're saying).

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