Over 250 killed in Mindanao Aquino: Review crisis manual; 22,000 families in evac centers in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan

Rescue and relief efforts continued after tropical storm Sendong tore through northern Mindanao, killing at least 256, many of them women and children in  Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.

Officials said it was one of the most destructive calamities in southern Philippines in recent years and struck areas not used to severe flooding.

Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz said the death count could still rise as more than 200 people were missing as of late yesterday afternoon.

The storm hit In the dead of night, ripping through parts of Mindanao not usually in the path of storms, sweeping away many of the sleeping populace.

President Aquino, alarmed by the death toll in Mindanao, called for a review of the crisis manual on natural disasters with evacuation of affected localities as the first response.

There are now 22,000 families in evacuation centers, mostly in Cagayan de Oro. Relief goods will be distributed, said  Dinky Soliman, Social Welfare Secretary.

“It’s sad that many people perished before Christmas. It came in the night and people were not ready. They were swept away,” she said.

In Cebu province, aside from the death of a boy who was crushed by a buli tree that fell on his house in Mandaue City, there were not reports of  storm-related casualties.

Cebu province was spared landslides and flooding, said Provincial Engineer Eulogio Pelayre.

“So far negative, thank God,” he told Cebu Daily News.

“We shouldn’t be complacent,” said Cebu City Mayor Micahel Rama, who urged residents to be vigilant and watch the riverbanks, shorelines and mountain barangays when the weather turns bad.

“We are lucky that we only got uprooted trees and some tolerable flooding in some areas, but we must not forget our brothers and sisters in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan who were badly affected by Sendong,” he said.  – Correspondents Carmel Loise Matus and Edison delos Angeles

The death toll of 256 was for Mindanao alone and did not include at least 22 deaths reported by the authorities in Negros Oriental.

As of Saturday evening, rescuers had recovered 256 bodies in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City, the Zamboanga del Norte  municpalities of Dapitan and Polanco, and Monkayo in Compostela Valley.

The floods were worse than anything in the past, said Mayor Cruz of Iligan, noting that place that were never flooded before went under water during Sendon’s passage. In many areas the water was more than a meter deep, he said.

“In the flood-prone districts, houses were either under water or washed away. Many families had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses,” Cruz said.

By noon the waters had subsided this could speed up the search-and-rescue efforts, he said.

Emil Raña, Cagayan de Oro government operations officer, said 22 villages had come under water starting late Friday night until 2 a.m. Saturday when Sendong unleashed huge volumes of rain. The floods were worsened by the high tide, he said.

Armin Cuenca, head of the Oro Alert, said people were warned about the risk of flashfloods, especially in areas near rivers, but many refused to leave their homes.

Galon said the military was helping in the search-and-rescue efforts and had flown choppers to locate missing or trapped victims.

Cagayan de Oro was at the center of the typhoon, which could explain why it suffered the most, officials said.

In Cagayan de Oro, where the floodwaters rose to more than a meter in the wee hours of Saturday,   153 bodies were taken to the city’s three funeral homes by Saturday afternoon.

Among those killed in In nearby Iligan City, among those killed was broadcaster Enie Alzonado of Radyo Mo Nationwide.

In all, 23 barangays in Cagayan de Oro were flooded.

Twenty of the drowning victims, many of them children, were recovered in Barangay Tambo alone, one of the villages dotting the banks of the swollen Cagayan de Oro River.

Most victims had stayed in their houses despite warnings as the rivers swelled to dangerous heights./inquirer and ap