Sunday, February 12, 2006
Caraga region under state of calamity
By Ben Serrano
Caraga Correspondent
BISLIG CITY -- Floods hit Caraga region anew after continuous rains for the last five days displacing around 12,500 families.
The Weather Forecast Bureau said the monsoon rains caused flashfloods that resulted to damages on government and private infrastructures particularly roads and bridges including rice farms and agricultural crops worth millions.
According to a report of the Butuan City based Regional Office of the Civil Defense, an undetermined number of families were evacuated in three barangays of the city.
Flooding already affected 18 urban and rural barangays of the region's capital city.
In San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, local officials headed by Municipal Mayor Carrie Lademora had to declare a state of calamity after six of its barangays were badly hit by floods that caused some residents to evacuate while floodwaters devastated rice farms.
Badly hit is the province of Surigao del Sur where public utility vehicles and private motorists and commuters were stranded for hours due to damaged roads and bridges.
In Barangay Unidos, Tago, Surigao del Sur, commuters to and from Tandag, Surigao del Sur had to take motorized banca or boats after the Tago River swelled, causing river waters to overflow to the national highway.
Double-time
Big transport firms like the Bachelor Express passenger buses plying the Tandag-Butuan City and Davao City routes were stranded in Barangay Unidos.
The Tago Bailey Bridge was washed out by strong current of Tago River Saturday morning.
The Department of Public Works and Highways-Caraga Regional Office is working double time on the rehabilitation of damaged roads and bridges despite lack of manpower and budgetary constraints.
In Bislig City-Lingig-Boston, Davao Oriental-Agusan del Sur roads, continuous rains have also caused damage in some portion of the 90 kilometers stretch highway as floodwaters already reached knee deep high.
Two other towns of Surigao del Sur, Cantilan, and Carmen national highways remained not passable after floodwaters nearly one meter high reached the highways.
In Surigao del Sur alone, according to the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, millions of agricultural crops mostly rice farms were damaged as floodwaters continue to rise.
The Office of Civil Defense said 626 families or around 3,192 individuals were evacuated to different evacuation areas in the Municipalities of Mainit, Surigao del Norte, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, and Butuan City.
Office of Civil Defense in Caraga Region claimed they have already released four hundred sacks of rice to the different evacuation areas to augment resources of the ongoing relief operations.
On Christmas day last year, some 2,058 families or about 9,972 people from 37 affected barangays in the four provinces, three cities, and 71 towns of Caraga Region were evacuated due to flashfloods.
The flashfloods washed away five homes, damaging P50 million of agricultural crops, livestock, and infrastructures as roots of the trees cut in the timberlands that are supposed to hold floodwaters due to heavy rains were already uprooted.
Surigao City and Mainit, Surigao del Norte local disaster coordinating councils have declared state of calamities last December 2005. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
(February 12, 2006 issue)
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