BUTUAN CITY -- The local government unit here has ordered the forced evacuation of 22 barangays after water level of the Agusan River topped 3.2 meters yesterday afternoon prompting city officials to issue a Code Red Flood Alert Level 3 Sunday, January 29.
“Right now we have evacuated a total of 18,487 individuals or a total of 3,683 families from 22 barangays that are located along the riverbanks and its tributaries,” Benjamin Paolo Gogo, officer-in-charge, Butuan City public information office, said.
Gogo said the evacuees are being sheltered at 31 evacuation centers, eight of them schools throughout the city.
Gogo said evacuation had been ongoing since Saturday afternoon when the water level started to rise.
“The rain brought by the Low Pressure Area (LPA) has flooded several of our street corners and these also brought excess water to the low lying communities and the Agusan River. Right now we are still monitoring the water level at around 3.68 meters as of 5:30 in the afternoon, and we have reports from the Office of Civil Defense Caraga that the water level in Agusan del Sur is still high so we are expecting that the water level might still rise in case the floodwaters in Agusan del Sur would come down to Butuan City,” Gogo said.
Gogo said food packs have been distributed to help the evacuees.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) has bared the list of affected villages which are as follows: barangays Golden Ribbon, Mahogany, Buhangin, Agao, Baan Riverside, Bading, Obrero, Maon, Agusan Pequeño, Pangabugan, Baan KM3, Port Poyohon, Sto. Niño, Maug, Banza, Florida, Aupagan, Baobaon, Bilay, Dankias, Mandamo and Tungao.
Meanwhile, some 27,458 individuals have similarly been affected by flooding at La Paz town, Agusan del Sur.
The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) report as of 4:00 in the afternoon of January 28, 2017 indicated that around 27,458 individuals from 6,225 families had been affected by the flooding from all of the 15 barangays in the town of La Paz in Agusan del Sur since January 18, 2017.
About 340 houses had been destroyed by the flood waters and 164 were declared by the MDRRMC to be partially damaged in 14 of the 15 barangays.
Several barangay and farm to market roads as well as bridges have also been damaged.