TWO people were confirmed dead and thousands of residents spent Christmas Day in evacuation centers after flash floods and landslides hit two Misamis provinces in Northern Mindanao yesterday.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 10 said 9,839 families or 45,883 individuals were evacuated from 73 barangays in Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental provinces.
The hardest hit was in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental, where 6,908 families or 34,081 individuals have been evacuated by Army and police rescue teams on the eve of Christmas, according to a report by the Army 58th Infantry Battalion.
Mayor Erick Cañosa and the City Council declared Gingoog under “a state of calamity” on Sunday after the evacuation already affected 19 of its 79 barangays.
Most of the affected residents are staying at the Arturo Lugod Gym in downtown Gingoog City.
In Misamis Occidental, Police Lt. Colonel Harvey Abellanosa, commander of the 1st Provincial Mobile Force said father and daughter, Mario Sambiog and Elenita, were killed after a landslide hit the hinterland village of Barangay Mialen, Oroquita City on Christmas Eve.
Abellanosa said rescuers found it difficult to reach the village after Toliyok Bridge linking it to Oroquita City collapsed following a flash flood.
The Office of Civil Defense Region 10 said 505 families were evacuated as flashfloods swept the towns of Sinacaban and Jimenez.
An updated report posted by the Philippine Information Agency Sunday afternoon said 802 families or 3,599 individuals were evacuated in Jimenez town.
Misamis Occidental Gov. Henry Oaminal ordered the forced evacuation of residents living beside creeks and rivers which he described as “already at critical level” Sunday.
Oaminal said the Aquamarine Park in Sinacaban town was inundated by the waters that overflowed from the river banks.
He said eight houses in Clarin town were swept away and five villages were in danger of the rising floods.
“Please go with our rescuers. This is for your safety,” Oaminal said.
In Misamis Oriental, the civil defense office said 705 families or 1,935 persons were evacuated in Gingoog City and the towns of Medina, Talisayan, and Balingoan in Misamis Oriental on Christmas Day.
Lt. Colonel Christian Uy, commander of the Army 58th Infantry Battalion said the Department of Public Works and Highways closed the Gingoog City-Claveria-Villanueva road early Sunday after several landslides and fallen trees were reported by residents.
“It was ordered closed as early as 5 a.m. Sunday and partially opened after lunch,” Uy said.
Uy said Army soldiers help engineers clear the vital highway linking Gingoog and Cagayan de Oro cities.
