AREAS that are not usually flooded, most likely have become a small catch basin, a City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) official said.
CDRRMO Operations Assistant Ezzra James Fernandez said during the iSpeak media forum on Thursday morning, November 9, that the areas that are usually not flooded became a catch basin due to the heavy downpour that is caused by the easterlies.
He added that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has released a general flood advisory that Davao will experience heavy downpour.
“Dili pod kaayo siya ginabaha so most likely na caught unaware ang atoang mga residents didtoa na area (The residents of the areas that are usually not flooded are caught unaware),” Fernandez said.
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Several areas, particularly in Ulas and Puan where the public has experienced the rapid rise in the water level, have said that this type of situation has not happened before.
Fernandez expressed that the areas in the city that experienced urban and street flooding are Matina Aplaya, Talomo Proper, Bago Gallera, Maa, Catalunan Pequeño, Baliok, and Sto. Nino. While areas affected by street flooding are Matina Crossing, along McArthur Highway, Dumoy, Barangay Bucana, and Matina Aplaya.
Also, the office received a report on water level rise at Crossing Bayabas where the Lipadas River channel is located. This water channel rose to code red around 11:54 p.m. of November 8.
“Before to code yellow, to code orange, to code red magpahigayun na gayud kita ug rekorida o ginatawag natu na pre-emptive evacuation. So pag ma-notice na sa atoang operations center nga adunay pagbag-o sa panahon ug pagsaka sa tubig sa atoang river channels ang atoang mga Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee (BDRRMC) gi-deploy dayun (Before code yellow, to code orange, to code red we will conduct rekorida or what we call pre-emptive evacuation. So once we notice by our operations center that if there is a change in weather or there is a rise in the water level or our river channels we will deploy our BDRRMC),” Fernandez said.
For the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), CDRRMO’s initial report as of Thursday morning, it shows there are about 127 families and 454 individuals.
As of writing, the office has not received any report of individuals who are missing, died, or injured.
He added that they already deployed their Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) Team to verify the areas that were hit by the flooding. Their findings will determine whether or not some areas in Davao should be declared a “State of Calamity” but Fernandez is hopeful that this will not happen.
Fernandez shared that Dabawenyos should always monitor the current situation and reminded that the community should be proactive and conduct pre-emptive evacuation to minimize rescue operations. RGP
