1 dead, thousands displaced as floods swamp Compostela Valley

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte—A village watchman drowned when he was swept away by floodwaters in Maragusan, Compostela Valley on Thursday as heavy rains brought by the tail-end of a cold front inundated some southern Mindanao areas, sending thousands to evacuation centers and prompting officials to cancel classes in many schools.
More than 200 families remained in different evacuation centers in Compostela Valley even as the rains stopped Friday.

Authorities said they have monitored knee-deep flooding in some areas of the province.
Three houses were also damaged by a landslide that hit the mining village of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo town early Friday, displacing four families, according to Raul Villocino, the Compostela Valley disaster action officer.
Several roads were also rendered partly impassable due to landslides, including the portion of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Mawab town.
Villocino said road clearing equipment from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the provincial engineering office (PEO) had been dispatched to clear the landslide-hit areas.
In Langgawisan village in Maragusan town, the body of village watchman Dodong Lupogan was retrieved past 1 p.m. Thursday, a few hours after he was swept away by a raging flood while attempting to build a makeshift footbridge over Caragan River, Villocino said.
At least 1,324 families from the municipalities of Compostela, Nabunturan, New Bataan, Pantukan and Montevista were evacuated due to the flooding, with 216 still in evacuation centers as of 10 a.m.  Friday, the provincial disaster official said.
Water levels in most of the province’s major rivers have subsided as of Friday but many areas in the province remained underwater, he said./rga