4 dead in flooding, landslides in Visayas, Mindanao

A backhoe tries to clear the site of a landslide in Pantar town, Lanao del Norte, on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (Photo RICHEL V. UMEL / Inquirer Mindanao)

Published: 4:01 p.m., Jan. 14, 2018 | Updated: 10:28 p.m., Jan. 14, 2018

At least four people were dead in flooding and landslides as heavy rains swept parts of the Visayas and Mindanao starting on Friday.

In Lanao del Norte, an official said three people in their 60s were killed when flooding struck the towns of Pantar and Baloi.

Hadji Khalil Sultan, of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) first engineering district, identified two of the fatalities as couple Idra and Baida Gumban.

Too late

Quoting the couple’s neighbors, Sultan said Ibra and Baida tried to flee to higher ground but they were too late. Flood swept them away. Their bodies were found on Saturday.

At least 14 houses were submerged in floods in Baloi.

The body of a man, also a drowning victim in Pantar, was found on Mandulog River yesterday. He has not been identified.

In Tacloban City, a woman was killed and three of her relatives were missing after a concrete fence collapsed and fell on their house in a village called 43-B.

The body of Delia Carson, 64, was dug out of the debris that used to be her house around 3 a.m. on Sunday.

Missing

Still missing were Cherry Jean Amancio, 52 and village secretary; her daughter, Chloe, 17; and common-law husband, Alejandro Mayolargo.

Sonny Carson, Delia’s husband, said he went outside his house after hearing a loud thud past 8 p.m. on Saturday.

In just seconds, he said, a concrete fence erected for a subdivision fell on his and six other houses.

Edilbrando Bernadas, Tacloban disaster reduction officer, said the nonstop rains the whole day on Saturday softened the soil and loosened the fence’s foundation.

Spate of disasters

Residents in the area were asked to move out of harm’s way, Bernadas said.

In Lanao del Norte, Iligan City and many areas of the province were still recovering from flooding and landslides caused by severe Tropical Storm “Vinta” (international name: Tembin) on Dec. 22 when heavy rains struck them again on Saturday.

Vinta killed at least 133 people in the province.

Bridges and roads were damaged in Lanao del Norte.

In Munai town alone, where at least 24 people were killed by Vinta, 21 public school buildings suffered heavy damage and needed quick repairs, according to Mayor Casan Maquiling.

He said some nongovernment organizations had offered tents for use as classrooms for students in the villages of Tambo, Old Poblacion, Pendulonan, Bacayawan and Lininding.

DPWH’s Sultan said workers were also restoring the bailey bridge in Dalidigan town to reconnect 15 villages to the rest of Lanao del Norte. /atm /pdi