Soudelor causes over $500K in damage to 2 DPS facilities

Typhoon Soudelor caused over $500,000 in damage to two facilities of the Department of Public Safety, according to DPS Commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero yesterday.

Deleon Guerrero said the Boating Safety Section facility in Smiling Cove Marina and an impound warehouse in Lower Base both sustained major damage.

The extent of damage at the impound warehouse is such that DPS is advising owners to get their impounded vehicles and that they will not be assessed fees.

The Boating Safety Section suffered an estimated $300,000 in structural damage alone, while the impound warehouse sustained about $260,000.

Deleon Guerrero said the $300,000 is the preliminary estimate to restore full operational capability of the Boating Safety Section and does not include damaged equipment and other costs.

“It did incur extensive damage,” he said, adding that they have been communicating with their grantor agency about this.

The commissioner said they are working on plans to build a temporary boat shed at the DPS main facility in Susupe and assigned one of DPS’ buildings as temporary office for boating safety officers until such time that the Boating Safety facility is repaired and restored to its original state.

“Thankfully, none of the boats were damaged,” he said. “The structure is a mess at this point. The roof flew out and all offices were flooded and all computer equipment got wet.”

Deleon Guerrero said that Boating Safety remains closed to non-essential services. This means boat inspection and other services are suspended. Boating Safety officers, however, can still launch their boats for rescue operations.

The Boating Safety facility, he said, is now under a 24-hour security watch.

With respect to the impound facility, Deleon Guerrero said the warehouse was severely damaged and that some of the over 100 impounded vehicles were also damaged but minimally.

Deleon Guerrero said two police officers assigned at the impound facility were not able to escape during the typhoon.

“The officers, I consider them heroes at this point. They were so wet and had to hide on one of those metal beds,” he said.

The commissioner said the situation at the impound area deteriorated fast, with pieces of debris hitting the windshield of the vehicle where the two officers initially sought shelter because of the powerful winds.

The officers, he said, got out of the vehicle and hid under the metal bed.

Deleon Guerrero said the officers only got out of the facility during a pause in the strong winds, managing to proceed to DPS station. He said he does not know how they did it, considering the number of fallen trees and debris on the roads.

Deleon Guerrero said he requested that the regulations that allowed the impounding of these vehicles, as well as DPS’ ability to hold them, be suspended until such time they are able to restore the facility back to its operating state.

“I am advising the public who have vehicles impounded to start making contact with DPS so they can claim their cars. We will not be assessing any fees at this point. We just want the cars out,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said they suspended the regulations for humanitarian considerations because a lot of people were affected by the typhoon.

“We don’t want to continue to hold these vehicles in the facility until we’re able to render the facility safe enough for us to continue to restore operations in that particular compound,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said a downed Commonwealth Utilities Corp. pole at Bureau of Motor Vehicle landed atop a crime scene vehicle, while other police vehicles had minor damage and blown out tires during the rescue operations at the height of Soudelor.