DIGOS CITY, Philippines—More than 500 families were evacuated when a river overflowed and swamped at least six districts of this provincial capital Thursday night. Most evacuees were back home, however, late Friday morning.
Einstein Taghoy, chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said they implemented the evacuation after a tornado was reported to have struck Barangay Goma around 6:30 p.m.
The heavy rain caused the Caños River to overflow, swamping the following sections of the city: Zone 1, Cogon, Sinawilan, Dawis, Aplaya and Tres de Mayo.
Fe Navidad, the city’s social welfare and development officer, said a total of 566 families were evacuated to higher ground.
No one was reported killed, but Navidad said many pets and farm animals drowned when they were carried away by the floodwaters.
Rotie Tizo, an evacuee from Barangay Aplaya, said the water rose so fast that she was not able to bring anything else besides her year-old son.
Most of the evacuees returned to their homes Friday morning.
Navidad said they were still checking on reports that several houses were washed away by the flash flood.