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Friday, August 10, 2007
Floods displace over 11,000 families: official
MANILA -- More than 40,000 persons have been displaced by floods and heavy rains spawned by typhoons Chedeng and Dodong, a disaster official said Friday.
As of noon Thursday, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) executive officer Glenn Rabonza said they counted 11,594 families or 42,041 persons affected by floods caused by the weather disturbances.
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Of the number, 1,163 families or 5,814 persons are in evacuation centers.
Two persons were confirmed to have died while 13 others remained missing at the height of the rains spawned by two typhoons that had battered the country since Tuesday. Seven others were also injured.
Rabonza said the two killed, one of whom was nine-year-old Reinel Renon, died in a landslide in Baguio City and in Abra.
Rabonza said six of the seven injured people were from Brentwood subdivision in Barangay Mambugan, Antipolo City. They were pinned down by a wall that fell on a row of shanties. The seventh injured person, who is from Zambales province, got hurt when a tornado hit the area.
The 13 missing persons are fishermen whose fishing boats capsized off Zambales. Authorities said local search and rescue teams have been deployed to look for them.
The province of Bulacan, Candaba town in Pampanga, and Rosario town in Cavite have been declared under a state of calamity because of massive flooding, added a television report.
Some areas of Bulacan and Pampanga are reportedly under deep floodwaters.
The over 40,000 persons displaced by the floods are from Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, and Southern Tagalog. A number of roads in the regions have been rendered impassable to vehicles due to massive flooding.
Chedeng is already out of the country's area of responsibility while Dodong was spotted 220 kilometers off Basco, Batanes as of 5 a.m. Thursday.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando on Thursday blamed informal settlers for the flooding in the metropolis.
Fernando said Metro Manila has about 70,000 informal settlers, who are mostly found in Manila and Quezon City.
He said he is looking forward to the relocation of squatters because once they are gone, he can check the water system or pipes in the area.
Fernando said he is also looking forward to the completion next year of the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (Camanava) flood control project, which would render Caloocan, Navotas and Valenzuela flood-free.
But he said Malabon could not be helped because the area is too low. (VR/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (August 10, 2007 issue)
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