DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 February) – Two persons were killed in Compostela Valley province while two persons in Lanao del Norte were injured as tropical depression Crising swept across Mindanao Tuesday.
Twenty-one of 26 Mindanao provinces were placed under public storm warning signal as of 5 p.m. Tuesday but the number went down to only one — Zamboanga del Norte — by11 a.m. Wednesday as Crising moved over Moro Gulf and on to the Sulu Sea.
In its Weather Bulletin Eight on Crising issued at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the Crising slowed down as it traversed Sulu Sea.
It noted that as of 10 a.m. the center of Crising was estimated at 220 kilometers northwest of Zamboanga City, packing maximum winds of 45 kph near the center and moving west northwest at only 19 kph, down from 24 kph as of 5 a.m.
The bulletin said Crising is expected to be at 280 km southwest of Puerto Princesa City by Thursday morning and at 480 km southwest of Puerto Princesa City by Thursday evening.
The island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi were placed under public storm warning Signal 1 at 5 p.m. Tuesday, bringing to 21 the total number of Mindanao provinces affected.
But as Crising moved westward and slowed down, the number of provinces under Signal 1 fell to 11 as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, five as of 5 a.m. Wednesday and down to only one – Zamboanga del Norte – by 11 a.m.
Andap death
Crising claimed yet another life in Barangay Andap, New Bataan, the village with the highest death toll when super typhoon Pablo struck the area on December 4.
Marlon Esperanza, municipal information officer, told MindaNews the body of farmer Francisco Digaynon, Jr., 37, married and father of four, was found in Purok 16, Barangay Cabinuangan, at around 9 a.m. Tuesday.
He said Digaynon’s body was recovered some two kilometers from where he drowned in Sitio Taytayan, Barangay Andap Monday evening.
To recall, Andap’s poblacion was swept away and buried by a debris flow on December, killing at least 400 residents, the highest death toll among the estimated 1,000 persons who died in the areas battered by Typhoon Pablo.
Esperanza said Mayor Lorenzo Balbin, Jr. on Tuesday issued Executive Order 5 ordering preemptive evacuation for all flood-prone and landslide-prone areas in all barangays.
He said continuous rains flooded the villages of Andap, Cabinuangan, San Roque, Magsaysay and Cogonon “which damaged road network.”
Mayor Balbin told reporters at the provincial capitol in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley province last Friday that citing maps prepared by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), only 189.19 hectares are safe for relocation or 0.27% of the 68,860 hectare total land area of New Bataan
In Montevista town also in Compostela Valley province, one Erwin Campana was reported to have drowned in Barangay Camansi when Saug river overflowed Tuesday, Edwin Antia, municipal information officer reported.
Floodings
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Monitoring Council (NDRRMC) website listed four persons injured in a landslide that destroyed the house of the Nacua family in Barangay Malasalug, Sapad, Lanao del Norte.
Two of the four family members residing in the house were injured and admitted at the Lanao del Norte Provincial Hospital in Kapatagan – Maria, 20 and Dodong, 8. Maria’s husband, Anatallo, and nine-month old Boy, were spared.
Floodings were reported in several provinces on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The NDRRMC reported flashfloods in Barangay Cabagayan, Tarragona in Davao Oriental at around 9 a.m. on February 19, totally destroying one house and destroying a foot bridge in
Sitio Mamoyapoy, Barangay Lucatan, also in Tarragona.
The NDRRMC also reported flashfloods in Datu Montawal town in Maguindanao at around 7:30 a.m. on February 20, affecting five barangays. (MindaNews)
