DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 20 Feb) — Landslides and floods led to the deaths of at least seven individuals Mati City, Davao Oriental and Monkayo, Davao de Oro, the Regional Disaster Risk Response and Management Council XI said in an update 11 a.m. 

It said four individuals were killed in Barangay Central, Mati City while another three were killed in Barangay Rizal, Monkayo. 

Rains displaced thousands of families in Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental as a shear line battered portions of Mindanao and Visayas this week. 

A shear line is a major weather system that forms when the amihan or northeast monsoon collides with the easterlies or trade winds. The resulting meteorological clash results in prolonged rainfall and leads to floods in affected areas.

A total of 20,892 families or 84,208 persons were affected in 65 barangays in Davao Region, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center data released at 6 p.m. on Friday. 

The report said there were 1,169 families or 3,929 persons currently taking temporary shelter in 51 evacuation centers in the Davao Region.

Meanwhile, the DSWD said there are 18,628 families or 74,921 persons temporarily staying with their relatives or friends; and 19,797 families or 78,850 persons still displaced in Davao Region, the report said.

A shear line is a major weather system that forms when the amihan or northeast monsoon collides with the easterlies or trade winds. 

The resulting meteorological clash results in prolonged rainfall and leads to floods in affected areas.

In Monkayo, Davao de Oro, the local government cleared up a road at Km. 6, Purok Waling-Waling, in Barangay Banlag which was temporarily closed because of a landslide. (Yes D. Ocampo / MindaNews)