Friday, February 1, 2013

Flooding in Mindanao

Outgoing National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Benito Ramos said Wednesday several families in North Cotabato and Maguindanao were forcibly evacuated from their homes on Tuesday night as the river in the area overflowed due to heavy rains.

In a phone interview, Ramos said 30,318 families or 123,551 persons were affected as the Pagalungan River at the boundary of North Cotabato and Maguindanao overflowed and caused knee-deep floods.

Ramos said the overflowing river affected Pikit and Kabacan in North Cotabato, and Pagalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao.

As of Wednesday morning, Ramos said several families from Davao, Caraga and SOCCSKSARGEN had been brought to evacuation centers.

On the other hand, NDRRMC said the damage caused by flash floods brought by heavy rain since last week went up to P58 million.

NDRRMC reported P50 million in damage to infrastructure was recorded in the Davao region alone while P6.6 million in damage to agriculture was recorded in Agusan del Sur and P1.1 million in damage was recorded in the Caraga region, where the Agusan and Surigao provinces are located.

NDRRMC also reported that at least six people had been killed while four were missing in the wake of rain and floods brought by the tail-end of a cold front on Mindanao and parts of Southern Luzon.

In a separate interview, PAGASA Forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said that the low pressure area in General Santos City threatens to bring more rain in Southern Mindanao.

He warned that the LPA may pose a threat to parts of Mindanao including the Davao area, which had been hit by flash floods.

Aurelio said the regions of Davao, Soccsksargen, and Caraga will have cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rains because of the weather disturbance.

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