“Like a tsunami in reverse-from coast to sea, a tsunami from the uplands” was how Neric Acosta, Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection, described the devastation in Iligan City in the aftermath of tropical storm ‘Sendong’ (Washi) after joining President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in an aerial inspection.

Sendong left 1,227 dead in Mindanao, 734 of them in Cagayan de Oro and 490 in Iligan.