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SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/20 January) — Forty-two houses La paz town in Agusan del Sur were swept away by flood waters Thursday, an official said.
Cydric Cumba, chief of the La Paz Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office told MindaNews on Friday afternoon that only four of the 46 houses in Barangay Angeles were left standing.
The flood left no casualties as the residents managed to flee before the waters hit their homes, he said.
La Paz was among the towns that were affected by heavy rains spawned by the tail end of a cold front over many parts of Mindanao.
Cumba said the flood had subsided.
The Office of the Civil Defense in Caraga said on Friday afternoon that La Paz recorded the second highest number of people displaced by floods in the province this week.
At least 615 families or 3,076 individuals from the town sought shelter in different evacuation centers.
Loreto town had 794 families or 3,897 displaced individuals.
Several residents in the province said the heavy rains this week that brought floods in several towns was much worse than Typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha) which hit southern Mindanao in December 2012.
Robert Espana, a resident of La Paz, said the waters were higher even if there was no typhoon.
“Karon nga walay hangin natumba man hinuon ako balay tungod sa baha (There was no wind but my house was damaged by the flood),” he said. (Roel N. Catoto/MindaNews)
