Flash flood swamps 2 towns in Davao del Norte

Photo taken from google maps

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—One person was killed while trying to help neighbors as hundreds of terrified villagers fled to safer ground as flash flood swamped two towns in Davao del Norte  early Thursday, officials said.

Rampaging waters mixed with mud cascaded from the province’s upper hinterlands down to several communities in Talaingod and Kapalong municipalities, washing away houses and sending residents packing to evacuation centers, said Sonio Sanchez, Davao del Norte disaster officer.

The flooding came even as the province has yet to recover from a similar disaster early in the week and many evacuees had just started returning home.

Sanchez told the Inquirer by phone that the fatality drowned while attempting to rescue trapped villagers in a banana packing plant in Barangay Sampao in Kapalong town past 1 a.m. Thursday.

The floods were triggered by incessant rains spawned by tropical depression “Crising” since Wednesday night.