TWO provinces and four municipalities in Davao Region are now under a state of calamity after days of continuous rainfall flooded towns and farmlands, displacing 37,207 individuals.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Davao information officer Mc Adrian Nolive Cobero said the provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte was declared under a state of calamity (SOC) on Tuesday, January 24.
Towns under SOC are Boston and Cateel in Davao Oriental and Carmen in Davao del Norte. Malita, Davao Occidental is also under SOC.
As of 6 a.m. Tuesday, OCD-Davao reported that 6,183 families from 48 barangays temporarily evacuated at 43 evacuation centers in the region.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management (PDRRMC) of Davao del Norte and Local DRRMCs are now closely monitoring major rivers in their area of responsibility, particularly Saug River in Municipality of Asunsion and Kapalong-Libuganon in Municipality of Kapalong, which are both now in critical levels and may cause flooding.
Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy has suspended the classes on Tuesday in all levels including public and private schools for the security of the children, with their parents and teachers until further notice.
“It is the best interest of everyone to be out of risk tomorrow due to continuous rain and rising of water levels in our rivers,” Uy said in a Facebook post.
OCD-Davao has already recorded 6 casualties and one injury. There were two deaths reported in Davao Occidental, three in Davao Oriental, and one in Compostela Valley. Three of the deaths were minors. The bodies were identified as Sidela Mariano (59) and DemerSalio (12) from Davao Occidental, RuyjenBanoon (11), Jekelyn Calanganon (8), and Franklin Gomobao (42) in Davao Oriental, and Rodrigo Digal Jr. (22) in Compostela Valley.
The agency also reported one injured individual from Malita, Davao Occidental, whom the authorities identified as Jansen M. Galano, 33, a Bureau of Fire Protection responder who almost drowned during a rescue operation.
Although vast tracts of farmlands are visibly flooded, estimates on damages to crops are still being compiled throughout the region.
So far, agricultural damages in Davao del Norte have reached P7.42 million as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Based on the initial report of the Department of Agriculture-Davao Region to OCD-Davao, the floods already damaged a total of 2,320.48 hectares across five municipalities in the province.
Banana plantations, which include cavendish, cardava, and lakatan, were the hardest hit by the flooding with 1,073.86 hectares damaged amounting to P4.17 milllion.
The agency also reported a total of 1,343 farmers have been affected by the flooding brought about by the tail-end of a cold front, which has brought continuous rainfall in the region the past few weeks.
Other crops affected include rice, corn, vegetables, and cacao. Fish ponds and fish cages were also affected by the rainy weather.
At present, the members of the risk reduction council are still conducting a preemptive evacuation in areas that are susceptible to flooding and those who are residing near affected rivers.
Based on reports from PDRRMC-Davao Oriental, Governor Nelson Dayanghirang has instructed responders to conduct force evacuation near the Aragon dam.
Since last week, the OCD-Davao has been on red alert and is closely monitoring its area of responsibility for effects of the current weather condition to the whole of Davao region.
Likewise, all Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management-Davao Region member agencies are enjoined to activate their respective Disaster Operations Center and pre-position all their response assets and resources for possible deployment to all affected areas due to the effects of the current weather condition.
Under Section 3 of Republic Act 10121, known as the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” it defines a state of calamity as “a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damages to property, disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people in the affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced hazard.” (With KVC)