DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 January) – The localized thunderstorms last Saturday evening, January 4, affected at least 617 families or 2,211 persons here, an official of the Office of Civil Defense – Region XI (OCD-XI) said on Monday.
During the “Kapehan sa Dabaw” on Monday, Karlo Alexie C. Puerto, OCD-XI information officer II, said that Saturday’s heavy downpour caused flooding in some parts of Barangays Matina Aplaya, Matina Crossing, and Matina Pangi in this city.
Five houses were destroyed and 15 were partially damaged, he added.
Puerto stated that as of January 6, the affected individuals had already returned home, except for members of five families in Barangay Matina Pangi whose houses were damaged by floods.
They were temporarily staying with their neighbors’ houses, he said.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office immediately enforced pre-emptive evacuation in the affected barangays when the Matina River was monitored at code red or critical level.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that flooding occurred in some areas of this city after the Davao, Talomo, Licanan, and Bunawan river systems overflowed due to moderate to heavy rainfall caused by localized thunderstorms.
Puerto warned residents living in hazard-prone areas of more “La Niña-like rains” through March this year that may likely cause severe flooding and landslides.
Ednar Dayanghirang, OCD-XI regional director, noted the flooding in the region might have been caused by a “massive drainage problem.”
He said that even without low-pressure areas or typhoons, several areas in the region had experienced floodings.
“I visited the five provinces and found out that (some) areas were flooded even without typhoons or tropical storms. The floods were caused by a massive drainage problem,” Dayanghirang said.
Last December 26, a flooding, caused by the Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ, affected 6,476 families or 28,686 individuals and destroyed 238 houses and partially damaged 580 others in Davao Occidental and Davao Oriental provinces.
According to the NDRRMC, two persons have been reported missing while 20 others were injured by the floods in the two provinces.
The missing were a 70-year-old female resident of Barangay Poblacion and a 37-year-old male resident of Barangay Lais in Malita town, Davao Occidental.
Of the injured victims, 13 were residents of Barangay Poblacion, three in Barangay Kibalatong, two in Barangay Mana, and one each in Barangays Bolila and Fishing Village in Malita town. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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