New floods cause fear in Visayas, Mindanao

INQUIRER PHOTO

Thousands of families in Mindanao and the Visayas have been evacuated to higher ground as incessant rains triggered flooding, causing fear among survivors of the deadly flash floods spawned by Tropical Storm “Sendong” 11 days ago.

No casualty was reported, but a 19-month-old boy went missing in Barangay (village) San Roque in Surigao City.

In Iligan City, 18-year-old Alemar Buenaflor was uneasy as he monitored the Iligan River.

Since Monday night, Buenaflor said his family had been worrying about another flood because heavy rains had raised the river’s water level, sending them, along with eight other families in Purok Riverside of Mahayahay village, fleeing toward the national highway.

Iligan was one of the areas devastated by Sendong on December 17.

A low pressure area (LPA) off Zamboanga City has brought heavy rain to large parts of Mindanao and the Visayas, but it is unlikely to intensify into a cyclone, weather forecaster Raymond Ordinario said Tuesday.

The tail end of a cold front, the convergence of warm and moist air with dry and cold air, however, would bring rain over Southern Luzon and the Visayas, he said.

The LPA, spotted 160 kilometers west of Zamboanga City on Tuesday morning, spawned heavy rainfall over Mindanao and the Visayas on Monday night.

In the absence of a daily advisory from the weather bureau, Alnor Abangco, 16, said the signal for them to flee was when a delta in the middle of Iligan River disappeared.

Watch teams

In Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental provinces, many barangays have formed watch teams, whose primary duty is to observe the water level in rivers so they can warn villagers of possible tragedy.

In the Caraga region, authorities, using government trucks and watercraft,  hauled nearly 2,000 people to safety from at least 14 villages on Tuesday. Floods reached up to more than a meter in some areas.

Amado Posadas, operations chief of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), said a forced evacuation was implemented in the provinces of Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte and Dinagat Island after the region-wide disaster alert was raised to the third level.

At least 1,144 people from 260 families were evacuated to higher ground in Surigao City.

In Surigao del Sur province, flash floods were reported in the towns of Hinatuan and Barobo.

The heavy rains also inundated several areas of Agusan del Sur province, including Bayugan City and Bunawan and San Francisco towns.

The RDRRMC said 1,896 people had been moved to evacuation centers.

Highway closed

In Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Mayor Edwin Elorde said he was forced to shut down a portion of the national highway on Monday evening because of rising floodwaters.

In Valencia City, Bukidnon province, continuous heavy rains flooded at least nine barangays. Rescue operations were ongoing for some 300 families.

In Davao del Norte province, more people were also being moved out of several villages in the towns of Asuncion and Braulio Dujali, and Tagum City as the Libunganon River continued to swell, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).

Sonio Sanchez, PDRRMC head, said that 50 families had been evacuated from Barangay Maniki in Kapalong town.

Sanchez said as of Tuesday, several Davao del Norte villages had been submerged in up to four feet of water from the overflowing Libunganon River.

The highway linking Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley was also shut down by the floods, he said.

At least 2,770 families (roughly 13,850 persons) were evacuated in Cebu, Eastern and Western Visayas.

Flooding was reported in 13 towns in Leyte province, five cities and one town in Negros Occidental, one town and three cities in Cebu, Southern Leyte and Capiz province.

A 40-year-old man was rescued from the river in Isabela town after he was swept by strong current while standing at the river bank in Moises Padilla town. Isabela is about seven km from Moises Padilla.

At least 1,430 families were evacuated in the cities of Sagay, Silay, San Carlos, Talisay and Cadiz and in Calatrava town, Negros Occidental. Worst-hit was Sagay City where the floods displaced more than 1,000 families after Himogaan River overflowed.

Floods also displaced 300 families in San Carlos and 130 families in Silay.

Leyte

In Leyte province, at least 774 families were evacuated in the towns of Palo, Abuyog, Dagami, Pastrana, Sta. Fe, Mayorga, Dulag and Julita, said Paul Mooney, administrator of the Leyte Operations Center.

The villages of Wilson and Ormocay in Mayorga were rendered isolated after floodwater submerged the bridges connecting the villages to the town center.

In Dulag town, an abandoned elementary school building collapsed due to heavy rains.

At Saint Bernard town in Southern Leyte, 52 families from the villages of Hinda-ag, Mahayag and Tabon-Tabon took temporary shelter in barangay halls and central schools due to rising floodwaters.

Eastern Visayas, particularly Leyte, has been experiencing heavy rains for the past three days.

Like Eastern Visayas, Cebu also experienced higher than normal rainfall, which caused floods in the cities of Cebu, Talisay and Mandaue as well as the town of Consolacion.

At least 500 families in Consolacion’s five barangays were evacuated at 1 a.m. on Tuesday after their houses were flooded.

The rains caused the Cansaga and Pitogo Rivers to overflow, causing floods in Barangays Cansaga, Lower Nangka, Pitogo, Lower Jugan and Poblacion Oriental.

The floods also damaged the Jugan-Tayud Bridge as well as some foot bridges in Consolacion.

Heavy traffic

Floods also affected the cities of Mandaue and Cebu, triggering heavy traffic in major thoroughfares on Tuesday.

Six houses were destroyed by floods in Barangays Tingub and Casuntingan, Mandaue, according to the city information officer, Roger Paller. The other affected barangays in Mandaue were Maguikay, Banilad, Subangdaku, Mantuyong, Guizo, and Basak.

In Cebu City, floods affected 100 families in Sitios San Vicente, San Isidro, New Frontier, Magtalisay and Lahinglahing in Barangay Mabolo. In Talisay City, 20 families left their homes in Barangay Lawaan 3 due to flooding.

In Banga town Aklan province, five families living on a bank of the Aklan River were evacuated. Reports from Franklin Caliguid, Dennis Santos, Frinston Lim and Ryan Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao; Carla P. Gomez, Joey A. Gabieta, Nestor P. Burgos Jr. and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas; and TJ Burgonio and Dona Pazzibugan in Manila