A feline was credited for saving his family from the rising floodwaters in Talisay, Cebu during the wrath of Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi).
Fashion designer Eva Cuizon shared how their pet cat, Neko, was able to save their family from the flooding in their house caused by the tropical cyclone on November 4.
She said that the feline had just celebrated his fourth birthday on November 3.
“When the storm finally calmed around 5:30 a.m. in Talisay, my family tried to rest a little, thinking they had made it through like they always do,” Cuizon shared in a Facebook post on November 6.
“Around 6 a.m., my brother David Paul, who was sleeping on the first floor, woke up to a loud bang. Neko was on the dining table and had pushed a laptop to the ground to wake him. He had been trying to wake David for a while and, when nothing worked, Neko dropped the laptop,” she added.
“David got up, stepped on the floor, and realized there was already water inside the house — ankle-deep. Neko had woken him to warn the family that the flood was coming,” Cuizon said.
She shared that they “immediately tried to save what they could, moving gallons of water and essentials to the second floor.”
“But within minutes, the water rushed in dangerously fast. My family made the decision to abandon the house and cross to a neighbor’s home with three floors to keep themselves safe in case the water kept rising. My family evacuated with Neko, together with our [two] other pets,” Cuizon said.
“That’s how Neko saved my family, just one day after celebrating his anniversary with the Aguspina fam [family],” she concluded.
Cebu was among the provinces that were the hardest hit by “Tino,” which is the deadliest tropical cyclone in the country so far this year, with a death toll of 232.
The typhoon brought widespread flooding, landslides and severe soil erosion.
“Tino” also damaged infrastructure like houses and establishments and caused prolonged power outages.
State weather bureau PAGASA reported that rainfall in Cebu exceeded a 20-year return period, meaning there is a 5% chance of such extreme rainfall occurring in any given year.
