4 dead, 4 missing in Bukidnon floods
VALENCIA CITY—Nearly 5,000 residents in seven barangays of this city in Bukidnon province were affected by flash floods on Wednesday night that left four people dead and four others still missing.
City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief June Ray Valero said that after ground validation, they were able to establish that there were only four missing, not seven as earlier reported.
He identified the fatalities as residents Larry Labay, King Winston Adrian, Jaya Tana-Vina and Princess Kyrah Dacoycoy. Missing were Jonny Borbon, Deejay Ark Tana-Vina, Consolacion Dina, and a 2-year-old boy.
Teams from CDRRMO, the Bureau of Fire Protection and police and military personnel and volunteers extended their search and retrieval operations up to early Thursday night in hopes of finding the four missing residents.
Barangay Poblacion was the hardest hit, with many families losing their homes and belongings.
In the wake of the floods, water supply lines were disrupted while electricity supply had yet to be restored as power distribution lines were damaged as of Thursday afternoon in severely hit neighborhoods.
Valero added that several houses were submerged by floodwaters in what many residents described as reminiscent of the August 2015 incident when the city suffered severe and devastating floods.
Mayor Junamie Galido-Galario convened the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to discuss crisis measures.
These include police deployment for security, prioritizing children’s safety in evacuation centers, and distributing food, water, clothing and construction materials to displaced families.
At least 300 families have sought temporary shelter in evacuation centers, many of them staying at the city gymnasium.
“Almost all of the evacuated families brought nothing with them, not even clothes,” Valero said, noting that private citizens and groups have begun donating used clothing and supplies.
The city council was set to hold a special session on Thursday afternoon to deliberate on the recommendation to declare Valencia under a state of calamity.
Agusan landslide
In Agusan del Sur province, rescuers working amid occasional rains continued digging among a rubble of mud and rocks in San Luis town caused by Sunday’s landslide that buried six people.
The search was down to one more missing person, identified as Elvin Mantipalan who was driving a motorcycle that trailed a cargo truck before they were hit by a landslide in Barangay Mahayahay.
Two bodies were recovered from the site on Wednesday, the third day of the search and retrieval operations, bringing the official fatality count to five.
Reports said Mantipalan was ahead on his motorcycle when he saw that the truck could not pass a bridge blocked by a fallen durian tree. As the truck tried to remove the obstruction, a landslide occurred, burying six people.
Those who were buried included the truck driver and his helper, the motorcycle driver, a couple with a 3-year-old boy gathering firewood and were about to make charcoal under the bridge.
Among the remains recovered on Wednesday belonged to Helen Abunda, 62, and wife of Jerry, 47, whose body was recovered on Tuesday, said Sadat Rivera, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management officer of San Luis.
About 2:30 p.m. also on Wednesday, rescuers retrieved the body of Daniel Cinco, 24, the truck helper (not driver as earlier reported) from Barangay Zillovia, Talacogon town.
Rivera clarified that only one truck was buried in the landslide, not two as earlier reported.
Helen was the grandmother of John Paul, the 3-year-old boy who, along with truck driver Junard Gonzales, 24, was found on the first day of retrieval operations.
Rivera said Wednesday’s operations moved faster with the deployment of five backhoes to dig through the thick soil and rocks covering the victims. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
