ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 15 Jan) – The low pressure area that hit Mindanao in the last few days has already claimed the lives of 24 people and injured 36 more, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
In its situational report released this morning, the NDRRMC said Davao Oriental, which was badly hit by typhoon Pablo in December 2012, suffered the most casualties – eight people, six of them due to a landslide in Barangay Bangol in Tarragona town, and two others due to flooding in Marayag, Lupon.
Six people died in the municipality of Cadianao in Dinagat Islands due to landslides. Compostela Valley had four casualties; Agusan del Sur, 2; Misamis Occidental, 2; Davao del Norte, 1; and Zamboanga del Norte, 1.
Davao Oriental likewise sustained the highest number of injured people at 23, also in Tarragona, where landslides occurred. In Compostela Valley, 11 were injured, most of them in the Diwalwal mining site (Mt. Diwata) in Monkayo. There was also two injured in Zamboanga del Norte.
There are 12 people still missing – six in ComVal, two in Agusan del Sur, and one each in Agusan del Norte, Davao del Norte, Surigao del Norte and Zamboanga del Norte.
The NDRRMC reported 18 incidents in all – 13 landslides and five floods or flashflood incidents – affecting 62,982 families or 299,531 persons.
There were 235 houses totally damaged, and 373 partially, the report said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), meanwhile, reported that as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the low pressure area was estimated to be 140 kms east of Guiuan in Eastern Samar.
It said that Eastern Visayas, Caraga and Northern Mindanao “will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rain showers and thunderstorms which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.”