THOUSANDS EVACUATE AS 4 RIVERS IN DAVAO PHILIPPINES OVERFLOW

 

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - Three other rivers in this city, aside from the Davao River, have overflowed, prompting evacuation of thousands of families in 13 barangays here.

The rivers that overflowed and flooded inhabited areas in the city as of Monday were Davao, Lasang, Lipadas, and Talomo rivers.

All over Davao region, close to 40,000 people have been displaced by recent flooding caused by the inter-tropical convergence zone that continue to bring rains.
A disaster monitoring report released by the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Davao as of 4 p.m. Monday showed those affected by the recent flooding have reached 10,318 families with 39,938 members.

• "These families who experienced flooding due to incessant rains are residents of Davao City; Kapalong and Sto. Tomas in Davao Del Norte; New Bataan, Nabunturan, Maco, Mawab, Monkayo and Montevista in Compostela Valley; and Cateel in Davao Oriental," the report said.

In another report released by the City Social Service and Development Office, affected families in Davao City alone have reached 10,280 families with 26,009 dependents.

Seventeen of the city's 181 barangays were inundated by the recent flooding that also killed a certain Tata Enterino of Purok 3 in Bacaca.

Another unidentified person was also reported missing, but this has yet to be verified by CSSDO.

DSWD Disaster Report also showed 36 evacuation centers have so far been activated in affected areas -- 13 in Davao City, 12 in Davao Del Norte, and 11 in Compostela Valley.

The Davao Light & Power Co. reported Monday that it started to restore power in main lines of flood-affected areas within its franchise.

Still without power as of 4 p.m. Monday are Jade Valley, Gem Village, Matina Gravahan, Juliville, Marfori, Madapo Hills and portion of El Rio, Bacaca and Tigatto. This also included several Davao del Norte areas.

In a statement, Davao Light said it deployed several crews to these affected areas to speed up repairs of power lines and connections.

The inspection team will check the individual connections thoroughly should there be wet electrical outlets and meters.

• The team also prioritized the repairs of its streetlights to provide illumination in affected areas at night. The full restoration of which is expected Tuesday.
• In response to the needs of the flood-affected families in Davao City, DSWD-Davao distributed on Sunday some 6,700 family food packs containing 15 kilos rice, eight cans sardines, four cans of beef loaf and 12 sachets 3-in-1 coffee.

DSWD Davao Director Priscilla Razon, who led the monitoring of the relief operations Sunday, said 5,000 food packs were provided to the affected families from the city's first district and 1,700 to second district, two of the heavily-flooded areas in the city.

Also Monday, DSWD released food packs to affected families in submerged areas in Davao Del Norte, Compostela Valley and Cateel in Davao Oriental.

Source: Agency