Evacuees return home amid good weather in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY — Classes in all levels in Davao del Norte province and parts of Compostela Valley were suspended on Monday even as the weather improved and evacuees started to return home after two days of heavy rain, local and disaster response officials said.

All towns in Compostela Valley closed their evacuation centers, except in the capital town of Nabunturan, where 204 families were still in evacuation centers in the villages of Magading, Basak, Magsaysay, Poblacion, Mipangi and Sta. Maria.

Joseph Randy Loy, provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer, said his office was still waiting for a report from Montevista town about the status of evacuees.

He said his office was conducting rapid disaster assessment and needs analysis to know the extent of damage caused by the rain-induced flooding and landslides on Saturday.

3 dead

The body of Krisel Hermosura, 12, who was swept away by river current at Barangay Bayabas in Nabunturan on Saturday, was recovered by residents on Sunday, bringing to three the number of those who died in Compostela Valley, Loy said.

Two men died in separate landslides in the towns of Compostela and Montevista, while a woman, Hermosura’s grandmother, was injured when she tried to save the girl.

A man was also hurt in a landslide in San Isidro town, Davao del Norte, also on Saturday.

On Monday, Davao del Norte Gov. Antonio Rafael del Rosario ordered the suspension of classes in all levels in the province, except in the Island Garden City of Samal, as floodwaters from upland areas reached downstream, swamping low-lying towns.

Flooded roads

Several roads in Davao del Norte were still flooded on Monday. The provincial road linking Tagum City to Dujali town was impassable to all types of vehicles.

The old Miranda Bridge on Pan-Philippine Highway, which links Tagum to Carmen town, was also not passable to all vehicles.

In Compostela Valley, classes in Monkayo and New Bataan towns were also suspended. In Nabunturan, classes were suspended only in villages that still had evacuees. —FRINSTON LIM