FORTY-NINE-year-old Japhet Catacutan Medel Bendol, a mother of five, expected strong winds but not the massive waves that tropical storm ‘Kristine’ (international name: Trami) brought, which washed away her home and two others in Cagayan de Oro on Wednesday.

Bendol said a neighbor informed them that morning about large waves battering houses near the seawall in Barangay Tablon.

“By the next morning, our 28-year-old house was gone. Its entire wooden structure was destroyed,” Bendol said.

SWEPT AWAY. A resident surveys the remnants of her home, which was destroyed by powerful waves triggered by Tropical Storm Katrine in Barangay Tablon, Cagayan de Oro City yesterday. Contributed photo by Japhet Catacutan Medel Bendol

Nick Jabagat, head of the Cagayan de Oro Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, confirmed that two additional houses outside the seawall were also destroyed by the waves.

He noted that the affected families had been repeatedly warned to evacuate.

DESTROYED. A resident inspects the remains of his home after it was swept away by powerful waves triggered by Tropical Storm Katrine in Barangay Tablon, Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday. Contributed photo by Japhet Catacutan Medel Bendol

In a report to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD-10), Jabagat said 76 families, or 236 people, were evacuated on Wednesday and Thursday as the storm’s winds and waves reached Cagayan de Oro and Northern Mindanao.

OCD-10 Regional Director Antonio Sugarol reported that ‘Kristine’ affected 130 families, most of them in the island province of Camiguin.

In Sagay town, four houses made of light materials, valued at P54,000, were destroyed.