‘Auring’ leaves Compostela villages under water — officials

Tropical Depression ‘Auring’ has weakened to a low pressure area but not before flooding villages in Compostela Valley. PAGASA PHOTO

TAGUM CITY – At least two villages in Compostela Valley remain flooded on Monday  as Tropical Depression “Auring” moved out of Mindanao and headed towards the Visayas, with local officials ordering the cancellation of classes, disaster officials said.
Raul Villocino, provincial disaster action officer, said flooding had subsided in most of Compostela Valley’s 11 towns, with water levels at the Manat and Agusan Rivers going back to normal as the weather improved early Monday.
Compostela Valley’s two major waterways nearly overflowed as rain poured in the province since Christmas Day, when Auring was still a low pressure area and still hundreds of kilometers east of Mindanao.
Villocino said classes were suspended in public elementary schools in Barangays Magsaysay and Basak in Nabunturan as portions of these communities were still under water.
“While we are no longer under (storm warning signal number 1), Gov. Jayvee Tyrone Uy’s instruction is for LGUs (local government units) to determine if flood risk still exists. Per assessment of LGU Nabunturan, risk is still present in Basak and Magsaysay,” Vilocino said.
He said residents who sought shelter in evacuation centers in Montevista, Compostela and New Bataan had returned to their homes.
In Davao del Norte, classes resumed on Monday as water levels in the Saug and Libuganon Rivers returned to normal, officials said.
The improved weather was a welcome respite and a “miracle” as the storm spared the province, allowing more than 5,000 devotees to join a five-kilometer “Traslacion” of the Black Nazarene in Tagum City, said Fr. Emerson Luego.

Luego serves the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus parish in Apokon village, where the more than two-hour procession ended. CBB/rga