24 families flee flash floods in Quezon province

LUCENA CITY –– At least 24 families from the towns of Infanta and General Nakar in northern Quezon province were evacuated midnight on Wednesday after flash floods hit their homes caused by a river that overflowed due to continued heavy rains.

Melchor Avenilla Jr., head of the Quezon provincial disaster risk reduction and management office, reported that at least 13 families composed of 74 individuals were pre-emptively evacuated at the village hall of Barangay Banglos in General Nakar.

In neighboring Infanta town, at least 44 individuals from 11 families sought temporary shelter at the barangay hall of Katambungan.

“The evacuees have already returned home since (Thursday) morning after the floodwater subsided,” Avenilla said in a text message at noon on Thursday.

The local governments of Infanta and General Nakar ordered the pre-emptive evacuation due to the fast-rising water level at the Agos River that flowed through the two towns.

In 2004, hundreds of people died in deadly floods after the Agos River overflowed due to heavy rains dumped by three successive typhoons in November that year.

Infanta and General Nakar were inundated with mud and water that also carried logs and other forest debris that cascaded from the Sierra Madre, where the Agos River originates.

Massive logging in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges was blamed for the tragedy.

LZB