Floods send 100 families to evacuation centers in ComVal

TAGUM CITY—Close to a hundred families have been moved to safer ground as flooding hit three towns in Compostela Valley province on Monday, following days of incessant rains in Southern Mindanao region, police and disaster response officials said.

Raul Villocino, Compostela Valley disaster response action officer, said flooding hit portions of Montevista, Nabunturan and New Bataan towns, with residents moved to a school and to several relocation sites.

At least 55 families were ordered to leave their homes in Banagbanag and New Visayas villages in Montevista due to rising flood waters on Monday afternoon, said Senior Insp. Sawiden Nor, town police chief.

Manat River, which runs through Nabunturan, Montevista and Monkayo towns, has overflowed, Villocino said.

At least 30 families (112 people) were evacuated to Magsaysay Elementary School in Nabunturan while several families in the village of San Roque in New Bataan were transferred to National Housing Authority housing units meant for survivors of 2012’s Typhoon “Pablo” (international name: Bopha) as a precautionary measure.

He said Agusan River, Compostela Valley’s longest and largest waterway, had not topped its banks as of Monday night, allowing vehicles to pass through the Davao-Butuan segment of the Pan-Philippine Highway.

Villocino said all disaster response councils in 11 towns remained on alert for possible flooding and landslides.

The Davao region has been experiencing moderate to heavy rains since Christmas Day due to the effect of a low pressure area over the eastern section of Mindanao. —FRINSTON LIM