DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/04 January) – A six-year old girl in Baroy, Lanao del Norte and a 58-year old woman in Monkayo, Compostela Valley were reported dead as flash floods affected 132,917 persons in six Mindanao provinces and two cities, 4,802 of them in evacuation centers, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in its 12 midnight update.
Nationwide, two out of 10 persons reported dead were from Mindanao. Four Mindanao regions out of seven nationwide were affected as “moderate to heavy rains that prevailed since early morning of 29 December 2010 due to tail-end of a cold front triggered the occurrence of flooding and landslides” in Palawan (Region 4-B), Albay, Sorsogon and Catanduanes (Region 5), Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, Western Samar and Leyte (Region 8) Surigao City, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte including Butuan City (Caraga region), Compostela Valley (Region 11), Tubod and Baroy towns in Lanao del Norte (Region 10) and Datu Anggal Midtimbang and Talayan towns in Maguindanao (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao).
Of the nationwide total of 197,641 persons affected by the floods in 242 barangays, most are in Mindanao (132,917 persons in 155 barangays). Of the nationwide total of 5,971 persons in evacuation centers, most are in Mindanao (4,802), records from the NDRRMC show.
Among the 10 reported dead nationwide were Cristy Jane Celocia, 6, of Barangay Lower Sagadan in Baroy, Lanao del Norte and Apolinaria Porras, 58, in Mt. Diwata, Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
Celocia was reported to have drowned while it is not clear how Porras died. The earlier reports of the NDRRMC mere say Porras “has been recovered” in Purok 16, Mt Diwata, Monkayo, Compostela Valley. The initial report was not clear if Porras’ body was recovered or she was rescued but the midnight update listed her as among the dead.
In Agusan del sur, classrooms, covered walks, and other buildings within the Philippine Normal University campus and in the poblacion in Prosperidad town were submerged in floodwaters when the Gibong irrigation river overflowed due to the rains since January 2, radio station DXSF-FM reported.
The NDRRMC report said “minor landslides also occurred in some areas of Surigao City and Dinagat Islands, Brgy Salvacion, Prosperidad in Agusan del Sur affecting one lane of the National Highway.”
Of the132,917 persons affected by the floods in Mindanao, Surigao del Sur topped the list with 80,880 persons affected in 74 barangays in 11 towns.
Maguindanao came second with 25,000 persons affected from 13 barangays in Datu Anggal Midtimbang and Talayan towns.
Agusan del Norte followed with 20,055 persons affected in 26 barangays in Buenavista and Remedios T. Romualdez towns and Butuan City.
Lanao del Norte’s affected persons reached 5,045 from 14 barangays in Baroy, Tubod and Lala towns.
In Surigao City, 920 persons from five barangays were affected; in Agusan del Sur, 676 from 16 barangays in Bunawan, San Francisco and Trento; in Compostela Valley, 341 from seven barangays in Compostela, Monkayo, Montevista and New Bataan towns. (MindaNews)
