Backpacking Philippines: Ormoc: 17 Years after the Flash Flood

Ormoc: 17 Years after the Flash Flood

Seventeen years ago, the seaside city of Ormoc in Leyte island was ravaged by a flash flood that swept the city and killed around than eight thousand people. Ghastly photos of the tragic event was shown not only in the Philippines but the whole world and triggered massive relief efforts to help the survivors. The tragedy was blamed, as usual, to people's irreverence and exploitation of Mother Nature.

With his recent visit to Ormoc, he was able to visualize the damage to the city, including its reputation as a unsafe place to travel, from locals who showed him around, even from survivors of the disaster who have their own stories to tell. Tutubi will just share photos of Ormoc, 17 years after the tragedy, from an image of disaster to a new one pulsating with promise, a clear picture of a liveable city who has learned from past mistakes.

St. Peters College and St. Peter and Paul Church. Also partly visible is Ormoc City Astrodome

Lots of trees visible from a distance where a football game, something not usual in Manila is also held. Football is popular in the Visayas particularly Bacolod and Iloilo

closer view of the football field (200mm at f11)

This post is not to perpetuate Ormoc as a place of tragedy but rather provide a fresh outlook and image of the city as a safe, livable place. Some people already chose this as their retirement place two hours away from bustling Cebu City.

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Ormoc Travel and Living Information

Other tourist attractions:

Laki Danao Natural Park
Go boating, camping, mountain trekking and birdwatching

Ormoc Golf Course
Leyte Golf and Country Club, Brgy. Mabini

Old bridge near the City Hall, Carlota Hills

World War II Memorial Markers, Ormoc Bay

Ormoc Beach Resorts:

a few resorts line the beach of Ormoc most popular is Sabin Beach Resort. Note though that Sabin's beach front is not so desirable for beach bummers; the resort though has a nice swim-around pool.

Ormoc Pasalubong/delicacies:

Young Attitudes Cassava Cake
Pineapples (Queen variety, you may buy them at the market or the pasalubong center near Ormoc bus terminal)

How to get there:

Manila to Ormoc: There are now flights to Ormoc Airport by PAL Express on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Alternatives are you take a flight to Tacloban then ride a bus or v-hire for about 3 hours land travel to Ormoc or a flight to Cebu then a 2 hour fastcraft (Supercat) or slow ferry (e.g. Cebu Ferries), about 6 hours sea travel.

For the budget-conscious and with luxury of time, Ormoc Ro-ro buses are available at Philtranco and Ultrabus.

Getting around Ormoc:

there are no taxis in Ormoc but plenty of tricycles to take you anywhere around or beyond the city.

Languages spoken:

Ormocanons speak Waray language (should be a language and not merely a dialect), English and Filipino is widely spoken.

Shopping Malls and Nightlife:

there are no giant malls and always alive nightlife in Ormoc (Tutubi doesn't like them malls anyway). Lots of them in Cebu City and there are also the soon-to-be open Robinsons mall and Gaisano in booming Tacloban City and probably an SM in the future.

The flash flood in Ormoc City occured on November 5, 1991 attributed to illegal logging but some claimed it's due to the presence of waterspouts and a storm that created a dam under the bridge of a river. When the dam burst, the water swept houses on a sandbar at the mouth of the river.

All photos taken on the roof deck of OCCCI building, currently the tallest building in the city. For other posts on Ormoc, please click the Ormoc categories below.

Labels: Eastern Visayas, Leyte, Living in the Philippines, Ormoc

posted by GingGoy @ 1:26 AM,

23 Comments:

At Nov 15, 2008, 7:26:00 PM, dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...: Hi, Tutubi. Ang galing naman... You're here and everywhere... :)
At Nov 15, 2008, 7:35:00 PM, GingGoy said...: dodong, not everywhere. I intend to visit the whole of 'Pinas from Batanes to Tawi-tawi. Pagudpud to Zamboanga pa lang bragging rights ko but I will get there :P
At Nov 16, 2008, 12:02:00 AM, Borneo Falcon said...: I already add your link in my blog list. Please do the same too. Nice guide here too
At Nov 16, 2008, 2:16:00 AM, the spool artist said...: Wow, i can't believe it;s been 17 year already! I remeber the front page on the news the day it happened... but it's amazing to note how the city has progressed and moved on after that tragic event... and i guess it was a painful lesson for us all to do better in respecting our environment...

great coverage, tutubi!
At Nov 16, 2008, 10:16:00 AM, GingGoy said...: borneo falcon, already linked you up too.

the spool artist, yes. seventeen years and people who've never been there remember it as a place to stay away from. glad the people there moved on already and made sure it will never happen again
At Nov 16, 2008, 2:03:00 PM, dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...: Hehehe... Ang dami na kasing lugar posted dito sa blog mo. Pero I wish you all the luck in fulfilling your goal of visiting all the places in the Philippines. I hope I can get there too :)
At Nov 16, 2008, 11:56:00 PM, Dakilang Islander said...: ang galing ng site mo...very informative...add kita sa blogroll ko ha
At Nov 17, 2008, 1:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Looks like the city has finally recovered from that horrible tragedy.

Hey, great for you to provide us a tour of the country :)
At Nov 17, 2008, 8:00:00 PM, atto aryo said...: it's good that you visited Eastern Visayas, a place more known for its poverty than for the beauty it can offer. the last time i was in ormoc was probably a decade ago but apparently nothing much has changed. and i like it that way. truth is, i like it better when a place doesn't rush to urbanization. damo nga salamat.
At Nov 17, 2008, 8:12:00 PM, Anonymous said...: dodong, madagdagan pa yan..dami pa ko backlog of unposted travels hehe

dakilang islander, will also link you up

bw, yep.glad they did. the bridge where the "dam" that overflowed that day is now new...
At Nov 18, 2008, 12:33:00 AM, Kyels said...: Still a beautiful place in my opinion.

;)
At Nov 18, 2008, 6:02:00 AM, Photo Cache said...: That flood was 17 years ago? Wow. Nice to see that somehow the city has moved on and the nightmare was just a memory of the past.
At Nov 18, 2008, 10:53:00 AM, Sidney said...: They seem to have fully recovered from this tragedy !
Good thing!
At Nov 18, 2008, 9:22:00 PM, GingGoy said...: kyels, i love a city with lots of trees :P

photo cache, yes, 17 years and yet people outside Ormoc still remember it like it was yesterday

sidney, yeah, good thing for them
At Nov 29, 2008, 7:04:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I can't even imagine how it would feel like living at a place like this. I think I would think about the earlier disaster too much :-)
At Dec 3, 2008, 8:05:00 AM, palma tayona said...: i enjoy reading your blog. i've become an armchair tourist because of this. next year i am laying plans to have a provincial vacation and your blog has become my jumping point. more power.
At Dec 13, 2008, 5:26:00 PM, Nina said...: wow, i hope to visit much of the philippines like you :)
At Jan 26, 2009, 4:36:00 PM, Anonymous said...: i recently visited ormoc city where my relatives lived... the city is nice and beautiful... great food and hospitable people... try to taste there sweet pinya... it's unique in sweetness and taste... and to those who worry about the tragedy many years ago?... just visit the mass grave and say a little prayer... today ormoc city rises! with great fortune awaits!
At Mar 22, 2009, 1:23:00 AM, fox1959 said...: Hello, I'm looking for a furnished apartment or a furnished house for rent for 2 months, May and June or at Ormoc City or Cebu. This is my third trip to the Philippines and this faith, I come to get married. my future wife lives to Isabel . thank you. sorry for my English, but I'm Belgian and I use the google translator.
At Jun 7, 2009, 3:35:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hindi naman waray speaking ang ormoc ah?? kundi they speak bisaya dong ! tacloban ang nag sasalita ng waray.. hehee
At Dec 3, 2009, 12:02:00 PM, Christina said...: im originally from Ormoc and its sad to hear from other people that Ormoc reminds them of the horrible tragedy...in fact Ormoc has become the cleanest city in the Philippines during the late 90`s. Thanks for posting great photos but i think you didnt post more beautiful pics such as Lake Danao, Sabin resort sunset, Ormoc pier, Veterans park and the doves near Ormoc Superdome. Night life in Ormoc is not that vibrant compare to Cebu but its usually spent at karaoke bars, beer drinking at the plaza and some occasional rock concerts at Ormoc Superdome.
At Dec 4, 2009, 3:02:00 PM, GingGoy said...: christina, as much as i wanted to, never been to lake danao, been to Sabine but at dusk so no sunset pictures, there's a post on veteran's park and superdome though that you've missed. feel free to browse
At Sep 22, 2011, 9:06:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Hi, just want to clarify that Ormocanons speak Cebuano dialect or Kana. Actually the west side of Leyte speaks that dialect. The eastern half of Leyte where Tacloban is, speaks Waray. FYI.

Ormoc: 17 Years after the Flash Flood

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