DAVAO CITY – More than 5,000 families or 25,000
individuals have been affected by the flooding that hit riverside
villages here following non-stop rain since Saturday night.
The city government has called off classes
from kindergarten to high school, in both public and private schools,
Monday as the city continues to assess the extent of the damage from one
of the worst flooding the city has experienced in the past years.
Emmanuel Jaldon, the chief of the Davao City
Disaster Risk and Management Council (DCDRMC), said local officials
have issued the warning as early 9 p.m. Saturday because of the
overflowing of the Tamugan river, one of the main tributaries of the
Davao river.
As a result, at least 12 barangays (villages) lining down Davao river was submerged in flood.
Jaldon, however, said some residents who
have already been used to floods, refused to evacuate, which was the
reason some of them were trapped.
“The problem is their coping threshold, most
of them have already experienced the worst of flooding, so, they just
don’t evacuate until the waters reach critical level,” he said. “They
still stayed on the second floor of their houses, believing they still
have a second chance.”
Jaldon also said the rain still continues in
the upland areas of Davao City, and that as of 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the
water continues to rise.
Dante Donayre, operations chief of the
DCDRMC, said that despite the disaster-preparedness training held for
community leaders in the past, the disaster-preparedness is still
wanting in the community level as elected barangay officials still fail
to re-echo these in the communities.
Malou Bermudo, chief of the City Social
Services and Development Office (CSSDO), said a total of 5,165 families
from 12 city barangays affected by the flood are now in different
evacuation centers; among them, are 2,700 families from Buhangin area,
which covered the Jade Valley and Juliville Subdivisions.
Choreyn Mae Dumape, 20, a resident of Jade
Valley who was rescued from the top of their house, said her parents
were still inside the village.
“My parents are still there,” Dumape said, adding that the water rose at around 1 a.m. Sunday.
In Compostela Valley, at least 178 families
have left their homes, even as authorities forced some residents to
evacuation centers as water levels in major rivers there continue to
rise, threatening low-lying communities, according to Raul Villocino,
provincial disaster officer.
In neighboring Davao del Norte province,
over 800 people have been evacuated overnight as floodwater swamped the
rice-producing municipalities of Kapalong, Sto. Tomas, Braulio Dujali
and Asuncion, said Romulo Tagalo, Davao del Norte assistant
administrator.
Those evacuated, according to Villocino,
included 129 families in the villages of Andap, Cogonon and Cabinuangan,
in New Bataan, the town which suffered the most number of casualties in
last December’s killer storm.
At
least 37 families also headed to the evacuation centers in Basak and
Magsaysay villages in Nabunturan, while 12 families from Sitio
(Sub-village) Pag-ibig, in the mining village of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo
town sheltered at the village hall due to fear of a landslide, the
disaster official said.
Waist-deep floodwater
has submerged most of Maniki village, the center of Kapalong town,
forcing many residents to flee to safer grounds, Mayor Edgardo Timbol
said.
Germelina Lacorte, Dennis Jay Santos, Karlos Manlupig, Ayan C. Mellejor and Frinston L. Lim, Inquirer Mindanao
