Red alert in Mindanao areas due to heavy rains

MANILA, Philippines - Regional disaster and management councils have declared a red alert in the wake of continuous heavy rains over Northern Mindanao, Caraga and Davao regions.

The military has been placed on alert for search and rescue operations as disaster officials initiated the forced evacuation of villagers from 12 barangays in Butuan City in Agusan del Sur.

Officials said widespread flooding also hit eight other towns in the province, displacing 7,486 families.

Around 5,296 families were also evacuated in the Caraga region.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the tail-end of a cold front would continue to dump rains in the region, as well as in Bicol, the Visayas and the rest of Mindanao this weekend.

A low-pressure area and the tail-end of a cold front brought days of heavy rains in several areas in the Visayas and Mindanao early this week that triggered massive flooding.

It has also been raining heavily in the Davao region, where several villages were also hit by flashfloods.

“The Agusan marsh is the catch basin in the region. Floodwaters coming from Davao and Bukidnon flowed into the province,” Agusan del Sur Gov. Adolf Edward Plaza said.

Plaza had to cut short his official trip to Japan to oversee ongoing disaster operations in his home province.

“I am saddened by the fact that our farmers who have already planted their crops would be directly affected by this flooding,” Plaza said.

He said all the evacuees are now safely placed in schoolhouses, municipal buildings and barangay halls.

On the other hand, soldiers and local policemen are conducting preemptive evacuation in the villages of Lapaz and Loreto towns in Agusan del Sur.

“A male person was reported missing in Sibagat town also in Agusan del Sur,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said yesterday.

Over in Northern Mindanao, Padilla said troops are still on alert for possible disaster deployment, particularly in the province of Misamis Oriental where early this week several towns as well as Cagayan de Oro City were hit by widespread flooding.

At least 18 persons were reported to have died in the flashfloods and landslides that hit Mindanao and the Visayas early this week.

There were initial reports that a fisherman perished after big waves hit his boat in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur on Tuesday.

The fatality was identified as Rogelio Puyales of Barangay Pungtod.

Local disaster officials in Zamboanga del Norte reported a total of 10 fatalities in the continuous rains and flooding since Sunday.

Aside from the swollen river channels in most parts of Northern, Central, Eastern and Western Mindanao, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported widespread river flooding due to prevailing moderate to heavy rains in Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Aklan in Western Visayas.

The NDRRMC added that Inabanga, Ipil, Matulid, Loboc and Abatan rivers in Bohol and Kotkot, Mananga, Guinabasan, Balamban and Sapang Dako rivers in Cebu; Libertad, Tanjay, Candugay, Siaton, Cauitan, Sipocong, Bayawan, Pagatban and Lower Tayabanan rivers in Negros and other parts of Central Visayas are rising continuously.

“People living near mountain slopes and low lying areas of the above mentioned provinces and the local disaster risk reduction and management councils concerned are advised to be on alert for possible or further flashfloods and landslides and to take the necessary precautionary measures,” NDRRMC executive officer and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) administrator Ricardo Jalad said.

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo yesterday led local officials in distributing relief goods in the affected areas in Misamis Oriental.

Taguiwalo called on other sectors to help out in the relief efforts as the floods displaced more families.

“Our interventions should be holistic. For instance, if we decide to transfer families from the danger zones, we have to make sure that the place where they will be transferred is safe and that there are jobs, water and food, among others,” she said. – With Helen Flores, Ben Serrano, Roel Pareño, Rainier Allan Ronda, Gerry Lee-Gorit, John Unson