Rains, floods persist in Visayas, Mindanao, Southern Luzon
IMPASSABLE A portion of C3 road in Iligan City is damaged by a landslide due to incessant rains on Thursday, rendering it impassable to all types of vehicles. —PHOTO FROM ILIGAN CITY DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT OFFICE
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Massive floods continue to inundate towns and cities in the Visayas and Mindanao, with no relief in sight for flood-weary residents as heavy rains induced by a low pressure area (LPA) continue to pour across these areas, extending to Bicol region in Southern Luzon.
Helen Sulit, a resident of Zamboanga del Norte’s capital of Dipolog City, on Friday said it was her first time to see water swell so high in her community in Estaka village in the 40 years that she lived close to the Dipolog River.
According to an initial report of the Dipolog local government, the heavy rains on Thursday spawned by the LPA inundated 12 of its villages and affected close to 5,000 families or over 20,000 people.
The floods have led the local government to call off classes and work in government offices on Thursday and Friday not just in the Zamboanga Peninsula but also in nearby Misamis provinces; the Samar Island in the Visayas; and in the Bicol provinces.
Throughout the Zamboanga Peninsula region, massive flooding and landslides claimed seven fatalities, including two children in Zamboanga del Norte’s Sindangan town, according to data from the region’s Department of Social Welfare and Development on Thursday.
Flood and landslide-related deaths in Eastern Visayas region also rose to seven as of Friday, local disaster officials said.
The rains were spawned by the LPA located some 85 kilometers east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, as of 10 a.m. on Friday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Friday reported that Zamboanga Peninsula accounted for 78 percent or 10,388 families of the total 13,238 families temporarily sheltered in evacuation centers throughout the areas of the country affected by the LPA.
In Dapitan City, also in Zamboanga del Norte, the damage to infrastructure was placed at P64.25 million while crop losses was at P11.2 million, as floods displaced over 3,000 families from 11 villages.
In Zamboanga del Sur, Thursday’s rains dumped floodwaters on seven schools in Ramon Magsaysay town as well as in the homes of 95 families in five villages. The towns of Molave, Aurora and Mahayag were also underwater.
In Misamis Occidental, the heavy rains damaged a bridge that connects the hinterland communities of Oroquieta City.
Iligan City, a highly urbanized city in northern Mindanao, also called off classes and work in all schools due to the rains which caused a landslide in a potion of a diversion road in Suarez village. The road has been rendered impassable.
In Tangcal town of Lanao del Norte, electricity was cut off after coconut trees fell on a power line due to strong winds.
In Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, 1,661 families from 17 villages were evacuated as of Thursday due to the bad weather.
Quick response fund
In Eastern Samar, the province was placed under a state of calamity on Friday due to the damage it sustained from the incessant rains.
The declaration, which was based on the recommendation of its provincial disaster risk reduction management council and approved by Gov. Ben Evardone, would allow the local government to tap its quick response fund to assist affected families and repair infrastructures.
The bad weather, which the province has been experiencing since Dec. 24 last year, has damaged public roads and bridges worth P18 million and destroyed P208.70 million in crops.
The heavy downpour and flooding also resulted in the deaths of three people in the province while six others remained missing, bringing to seven the death toll in Eastern Visayas as of Friday, according to the provincial disaster councils.
At least 120,716 families (466,745 individuals) in the region were affected by the flooding.
In an advisory, the NDRRMC said Eastern Visayas would continue to experience nonstop rains that could result in flooding and landslides.
The regional Office of Civil Defense reported that agricultural products worth over P129.74 million were also destroyed due to the massive flooding. The province of Eastern Samar had the biggest damage at P104.35 million; followed by Samar (P17.66 million); Northern Samar, (P5.64 million); Leyte, (P2 million); and Southern Leyte with P78,000.
In Bohol, the body of a woman was found floating in a creek in Calape town in Barangay Bonbon on Thursday morning. The victim was identified as Debraliz Castro, a resident of Barangay Sta. Cruz in Calape town, said Police Master Sergeant Cromwell Enriquez, the town police’s desk officer.
In Negros Occidental, at least 1,116 families (3,301 individuals) in the cities of Sagay, Bago and Cadiz and the towns of Valladolid and Cauayan were affected by the floods, the provincial social welfare and development office said.
Suspended classes
In the Bicol region, heavy rains that caused floods and landslides prompted the suspension of classes in the towns of Virac and San Miguel in Catanduanes province; Legazpi City and the towns of Guinobatan, Polangui, Camalig, Pio Duran and Daraga in Albay province; Masbate City and the towns of Batuan and Mobo in Masbate province; and Sorsogon City and the towns of Gubat, Bulan and Pilar in Sorsogon province.
Sto. Domingo Mayor Joseling Aguas Jr. also suspended classes in the villages of Alimsog, Buhatan, Salvacion and Calayucay after debris from a landslide covered a portion of the road linking Calayucay and Salvacion.
