OCD: 490,000 people affected by floods, landslides in Davao region

DAVAO CITY—An estimated 490,000 people from nearly 112,000 families were affected by the severe flooding and landslides in the Davao region due to last week’s heavy rains spawned by the shear line, the regional Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Sunday.

Franz Irag, OCD-Davao regional operations chief, said that of the total number, 3,933 families or 13,605 people have been staying in evacuation sites as of Sunday.

Most of the landslides occurred along the roadsides, affecting at least 45 barangays in Davao de Oro and eight barangays in Davao Oriental, he said.

As of Sunday, clearing operations were still ongoing, according to Irag.

Of the 111,984 families affected by flooding and landslides, 66,735 families (roughly 42,268 people) were in Davao del Norte; followed by the 30,848 families (roughly 145,568 people) in Davao Oriental; 10,708 (42,268 people) in Davao de Oro; 2,435 (or 8,773 people) in Davao City; 1,234 (or 5,560 people) in Davao Occidental and 24 families (98 people) in Davao del Sur.The landslides have claimed 14 lives as of Sunday, including 11 people in the town of Monkayo in Davao de Oro, seven of whom were from one family unit: a couple and their five young children.

Lone survivorA 1-year-old child rescued from the debris that buried 11 people in the village of Mt. Diwata, Monkayo, on Jan. 18 could be the lone survivor of the landslide that occurred at the height of continuous rains dumped by the shear line affecting the Davao region since early this week.

According to an emergency rescuer at the Monkayo municipal disaster risk reduction office, they learned that the health condition of Amara Kate Delola, the 1-year-old child earlier reported to be critically injured, has stabilized, although it was not very clear yet if the infant had been pronounced to be out of danger.

The 11 people were killed when the house where they were gathered for a prayer meeting was buried by an onrush of rock and mud around 1 p.m. of Jan. 18. Killed were Rommel Gumatin, 36, whose body was last to be found on Saturday; his wife Catherine, 27; their 1-year-old son Romel Jr.; and daughters Dyana, 3; Cristelle, 9; Hannah, 10; and Ailee, 12. The other fatalities were Assembly of God members Marjomie Neñara, 35; Ritchell Rebuldad, 35; Agnes Bitoon, 44; and Elvira Saldua, 35.

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Julius Neñara Jr., husband of Marjomie, narrated in a radio interview that the people were gathered at Gumatin’s house for a prayer meeting of their sect, Assembly of God, had intended to leave the house to seek shelter elsewhere after the meeting but were instead caught in the landslide.

The OCD-Davao reported that separate landslides also killed three others: an unidentified man in Purok Bagong Silang, Barangay Tandik in Maragusan town of Davao de Oro; and those of 7-year-old Jheron Alen Manay in Barangay Salaysay and Ernesto Baistes Pacinio, 43, in Barangay Tigatto, both in Davao City.

The OCD said floods and landslides likewise destroyed four bridges in Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte, while at least seven roads in these areas remained not passable. INQ