Over 80K affected by Christmas Day rains, floods in Visayas, Mindanao —OCD

More than 80,000 people were affected by a shearline that caused rains and floods in some areas in Visayas and Mindanao on Sunday, Christmas Day, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Monday.

In its 6 a.m. bulletin, the OCD said two people were reported dead in Misamis Occidental and nine were reported missing — five in Northern Samar, three in Misamis Occidental, and one in Leyte.

One person was also reported injured, the OCD said. Meanwhile, 80,142 individuals or 18,407 families were affected by the effects of the shearline in Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga, and Northern Mindanao.

The OCD said 44,725 people or 9,197 families have been displaced due to the effects of the bad weather.

It added that 43 houses were damaged and P280,000 worth of damage in infrastructure were reported.

According to a report of Mav Gonzales on GMA News’ Unang Balita, floods hit some areas in Eastern Samar where rescuers have to use a rope when evacuating affected residents.

In the town of Llorente, the flood was knee-deep, while in Balangkayan, a river overflowed, prompting residents to evacuate.

Continuous rains also led to flooding in Surigao del Norte, leaving damaged houses. In Zamboanga City, flash floods hit at least 10 barangays. According to the local government unit, over 200 people were staying in evacuation centers. One person was reported injured in Barangay Guisao and one was reported missing in Mercedes.

In Lamitan City in Basilan, at least four barangays were affected by floods.

Neck-deep floods hit some barangays in Tudela, Misamis Occidental. The floods in some areas already reached the roofs of the houses.

Rescuers evacuated mostly senior citizens who needed some apparatus after experiencing difficulty in breathing. According to the Clarin municipal government, their dike was damaged which led to the flooding.

At least two persons were reported dead in Barangay Pan-ay. 

Clarin, Misamis Occidental Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (MDRRMO) said the water in the rivers swelled six times bigger.

“Talagang red alert level na tayo. At saka yung mga ilog dito nag-multiply na sa anim yung laki at lawak nito,” Clarin MDRRMO head Carmelito Heray said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(We are already at a red alert level. The rivers here already swelled six times bigger.)

According to Heray, a 17-year-old victim went missing but authorities could not conduct search and rescue operations because the current of the flood was strong.

He said around 1,000 individuals were staying in an evacuation center.

Heray said some hanging bridges in their area were destroyed by the strong rains. Due to this, some residents could not evacuate and rescuers could not respond to them fast.

The water supply in the area was also affected, according to Heray.

In a separate interview, Pola, Oriental Mindoro Mayor Jennifer Cruz said some houses and resorts were affected by the strong rains and winds as well as by big waves on Christmas Day.

“Maraming nasirang bahay. Sa kabilamg ibayo namin kung saan maraming resort doon, may mga na-wash out na resort so kawawa yung bagong tayo,” Cruz told Dobol B TV.

(Many houses were destroyed. Some resorts were washed out. Some of them are newly built.)

Around 600 to 700 families were affected by the floods, she said.

Cruz called on the national government to build more dikes to prevent a similar incident. According to her, this was the first time the town experienced such flooding. —KBK, GMA Integrated News