HAULED OFF TO SAFETY Several residents in Oroquieta City are hauled off to safety on a payloader on Monday amid heavy flooding in the provincial capital of Misamis Occidental. —PHOTO FROM PEOPLE OF OROQUIETA FACEBOOK PAGE
The death toll due to heavy rains that spawned floods in Eastern Visayas and sections of Mindanao had risen to 13, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Tuesday.
Diego Agustin Mariano, head of the Joint Information Center of the OCD, said during the Laging Handa briefing that seven deaths were reported in Northern Mindanao, three in Bicol, two in Eastern Visayas and one in the Zamboanga Peninsula. At least 23 people remained missing, among them seven fishermen from Northern and Eastern Samar provinces.Mariano said that as of Tuesday morning, 10,536 families, or 45,327 people, were in evacuation centers, mostly in Northern Mindanao.
The nonstop rains triggered by a shear line—where warm and cold winds meet—forced more than 45,000 people to take shelter in evacuation centers, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Agricultural losses have been estimated so far at P59.8 million, while damage to infrastructure was pegged at P14.58 million.
In a statement on Tuesday, Press Undersecretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said President Marcos monitored from Malacañang the flood situation and had ordered the immediate delivery of assistance to people affected by floods in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has on standby P56.5 million worth of funds as relief support.
Marlouie Sulima, head of the DSWD’s Social Marketing Service, said the agency had released P3.4 million worth of assistance to affected families in Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Caraga.
Rescued at sea
Amid a gloomy atmosphere in Misamis Occidental, which continued to experience rains on Tuesday, a bit of good news lifted the people’s spirits as two residents, who went missing after floodwaters swept away their house on Christmas Day, were found alive.
Daisy Buladas, a resident of Jimenez town, told the Inquirer by phone on Tuesday that fisherman Rico Martinez rescued Crystal Abastas, 3, and her mother, Cristelyn, 34, at sea, after 72 hours.
The two, along with Ronilo Abastas, Cristelyn’s husband, were reported missing around 1 a.m. Sunday as their house in Sinacaban town was destroyed by floodwaters. Ronilo has yet to be found.
Half of Misamis Occidental province is without electricity and residents are experiencing poor telecommunications signal since Monday.
According to the Misamis Occidental 1 Electric Cooperative Inc. (Moelci 1), four structures of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, which carry a 69-kilovolt line between Panaon town and Oroquieta City, were damaged due to the floods and heavy rains at Barangay Lawa-an in Aloran town.
“It will take considerable time to repair these damaged structures as the area is still underwater and the amount of debris that have accumulated in the structures’ base and other debris that have been entangled with our line conductors,” said an advisory from Moelci 1 on Monday.
RELATED STORIES
Heavy rains continue to pound Mindanao, Eastern Visayas
48 areas still flooded due to shear line rains, 1 city under state of calamity