MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/14 January) – Two cities in Region 10 suspended classes from the pre-school to high school Tuesday due to heavy rains brought by a Low Pressure Area over Mindanao.
Malaybalay City Mayor Ignacio W. Zubiri ordered the suspension of classes on Tuesday afternoon through Executive Order No. 02-2014. He said classes would remain suspended until the order is revoked.
The city has experienced moderate to heavy rains since Friday.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center (CDRRMC) reported that seven families were evacuated in Sitio Bongbongon, Barangay Sumpong as water from Kalawaig Creek overflowed.
The families were temporary housed at the Sumpong Elementary School, Jesusa Jazz Aquino, of the CDRRMC said via telephone.
No casualties have been reported so far.
The center said water in a swampy area in Barangay 9 and in a drainage canal near the Bukidnon State University (BSU) overflowed.
Photos posted on Facebook by some BSU teachers showed students who could not cross the street along the university due to the almost knee-deep water.
Two high school students were carried away by strong currents along Fortich Street, the city’s main artery, but three BSU students rescued, according to dxBU broadcaster Ana Ninfa Bago Caballero and Reynaldo Oton, principal of BSU-Secondary School Laboratory.
The commotion caused traffic congestion early afternoon just as heavy rains poured.
Alejandro Dano Jr. of the Public Affairs, Information and Assistance office of the provincial government also posted photos of the strong current of Kalawaig creek just behind the Capitol building at around mid-afternoon.
In Barangay San Jose, a village along the national highway, flood waters had reached knee-deep as of 2pm.
Ma. Leah Barquez, of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center said they received no reports of flooding incidents elsewhere in the province as of 4:50p.m.
Using the online Project Noah stream water level monitoring system of the Department of Science and Technology, water in the Sawaga River along Barangay Sumpong was at its highest around 1:50p.m., at 2.27 meters.
In Ozamiz City, Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog, Sr., ordered anew the suspension of classes from pre-school to high school, in all public and private schools on Tuesday, to ensure the safety of the students.
The order came after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomic Services Administration issued an advisory that the rains might trigger flooding and landslides in low-lying areas, according to the Philippine Information Agency-Region 10.
The rains since last weekend has caused the Labo River to overflow, flooding the urban barangays and threatening landslides in the hinterland, it added. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)