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Saturday, December 17, 2005
Scores flee as floods threaten Calapan City (2:55 p.m.)
CALAPAN -- Scores of villagers fled their homes Saturday as fresh floods threatened a city anew after heavy monsoon rains inundated it last week, an official said.
A river that runs through Calapan city overflowed early Saturday following several days of continuous rain, breaching a 700-meter section of an earthen dike, city administrator Salvador Leachon said.
Leachon said local officials, speaking on television, radio and mobile loudspeakers, urged residents close to the river to evacuate.
He said church bells also were being rung to warn villagers of rising floodwaters.
Many residents affected by last week's floods were again moving furniture and other personal belongings to the second floor of their homes.
The weather bureau said that a tropical depression that passed near Mindoro island had worsened the monsoon rains.
More than 170,000 people in Calapan and about 30,000 more in four nearby provinces were affected by last week's floods.
Five people were killed, including a man who drowned as he tried to drive home in Calapan, about 130 kilometers south of Manila. (AP) |
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