Floods, huge waves displace thousands in CdO, Iligan cities

By Gina Peralta-Elorde

01/04/2009

Flash floods and huge waves spawned by heavy rains have displaced about 5,000 families in the southern Philippines, according to National Disaster Coordinating Council officials.

The officials said many people fled their homes in the face of rising, rampaging waters in Misamis Oriental. Over a hundred houses were also been destroyed.

Regional civil defense director Carmelito Lupo said most of those whose homes were

destroyed were from Cagayan de Oro city but officials were still trying to get information on the situation in the surrounding areas.

Local officials in Cagayan de Oro said that over 2,000 families had to be evacuated to basketball courts due to rising waters on river banks.

In Iligan City, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that at least four houses were washed away in Sitio Manauang while some residents of Bayug island in Hinaplanon town were trapped owing much to frequent rains combined with high tide that caused waters to rise. No casualties were reported at posting time, it said.

The NDCC further reported the affected Iligan City residents were evacuated and now sheltered temporarily in nearby elementary schools. The City Social Welfare Office attended to them, it added.

Evacuations were also under way in Ginoog City in Misamis Or. and other areas where flash floods had been reported, according to provincial officials.

Local officials said two children, aged one and two, were narrowly rescued from the floods but no casualties had been reported yet.

According to NDCC, its forces combined with those of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces fielded search and rescue teams and launched relief operations in areas hit by flashfloods, particularly the lowland barangays in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro since Jan. 2 when frequent rains started to pour in northern Mindanao.

The NDCC reporte that hundreds of families from these areas were evacuated to safer grounds.

The NDCC said the frequent rains caused the Mandulog River to overflow, its waters running through the villages of Mahayahay, Tambacan and Manauang.

Rescue teams had been mobilized by the local government to respond to the affected families, it said

The Iligan City Social Welfare Office said it was still in the process of keeping tab of the increasing number of the families affected by flashfloods.

The Philippine Army’s 104th and 403rd Infantry Brigades were also helping with the relief operations, the NDCC said. With AFP

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