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A three-hour downpour late Tuesday night up to 1 a.m. Wednesday caused rives to overflow and flash flood up to more than 10 meters high in Davao City killing 4 persons, affecting about 10,000 residents and an estimated P5-million damage to properties, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said in an interview on “In Desk Corner” on 990 AM DZIQ Radyo Inquirer on Wednesday morning.
The four confirmed dead were two children (unidentified girl around 3 to 4 years old and unidentified boy around 6 years old) and two unidentified adults, a man and a woman aged around more than 50 years old, said Mayor Duterte.
On-going are the search-and-rescue operations on the eight missing persons.
She said the most affected was Brgy. Matina Pangi, where homes of about 40 families were washed out by the flash flood described as “lagpas bahay” (above the roof). She added the rescued families were immediately brought to evacuation centers. Matina river is in the said barangay.
“It was not the first time that we had flash floods but last night, almost all the rivers in the city overflowed simultaneously,” Mayor Duterte said.
Besides the Matina River, Davao City has Talomo River, Bago Creek, Aclihan Creek, Lybby Creek, Davao River, Taglonan River, Balo River, Lubogan River, Malogbok Creek, Daliao River, Lipadas River and Bayabas Creek.
She said there’s no need yet to declare a state of calamity in the city. If there’s one immediate problem now it’s the nearly-collapsing Matina bridge. “It’s the one directly leading to the affected areas but we still have two alternative bridges,” she added.
As of 5:56 a.m. Wednesday, Mayor Duterte said it’s surprising to see a sunny weather. “It’s (flash flood) like a thief in the night.”
She said since the flood has subsided, most of the affected families are back to their homes cleaning up the debris and trying to recover what’s left of their belongings.
For updates, listen to 990 AM DZIQ Radyo Inquirer.