Digos loses P101 million to floods

A portion of the flood control dike along the Digos River caved in as flood waters rampaged on Sunday evening. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DIGOS CITY—The heavy flooding in eight villages here last week damaged P101 million worth of private property, infrastructure and crops, the local government said.

Samuel Miralles, city disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the flood affected 543 families in the villages of Cogon, Tres de Mayo, Aplaya and Dawis. Twenty-eight families in Barangay Cogon were left homeless after floodwaters destroyed their houses.

Miralles said initial cost of damage in private properties reached P1.22 million.

Damaged crops include banana and newly planted rice in the villages of Igpit, San Miguel, San Agustin and Goma villages, worth P2.51 million.

The flood also damaged a river dike, a footbridge and farm-to-market road in Sinawilan village. A P5-million suspension bridge in Ruparan village was destroyed by raging waters following six hours of continuous heavy rainfall.

The biggest damage, worth P91.25 million, was on a flood control dike along Digos River.

The destruction of portions of the dike allowed floodwaters to swamp the homes of more than 1,000 families in the city’s urban villages, forcing them to evacuate on Sunday night.—ELDIE S. AGUIRRE