DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Residents in Davao City’s hazard-prone areas are warned to prepare for possible floods brought by the effects of La Niña up to the month of March.
This was advised by the Office of Civil Defense Region XI (OCD XI) through its information officer Karlo Alexie Puerto, during Monday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw, as he gave updates on last Saturday’s flood that struck three barangays.
Last Saturday’s thunderstorm on January 4 triggered river systems in Davao City to overflow, and flooding in the barangays of Matina Aplaya, Matina Crossing and Matina Pangi. The OCD said pre-emptive evacuation was conducted in these barangays when Matina River was monitored at code red as 617 families or 2,211 persons moved to evacuation shelters.
Data from responders said five houses were destroyed and 15 partially damaged. Most residents have returned to their homes except for those who lost their houses and are temporarily staying with their neighbors.
Davao City and also Davao Region have experienced floods in the past two weeks.
On December 26 last year, floods caused by the Intertropical Convergence Zone destroyed 238 houses and partially damaged 580 others in Davao Occidental and Davao Oriental provinces, which affected 28,686 people or 6,476 families, the OCD said.
OCD-XI Director Ednar Dayanghirang also observed that some floods in the region happened even without typhoons in Mindanao, and points out of “massive drainage problem” in cities and municipalities. (davaotoday.com)
