7K families in Davao isolated due to collapsed bridge

A BRIDGE in Caraga town in Davao Oriental collapsed due flooding caused by tropical cyclone “Kabayan,” isolating some 7,000 families, a civil defense official said yesterday.

Ednar Dayanghirang, director of the Office of Civil Defense-Davao region, appealed to the national government to facilitate the immediate repair of the bridge in Barangay Lamiawan.

“Around 7,000 families were affected, the barangay was isolated due to the damage of the bridge,” Dayanghirang said in a radio interview, referring to the Lamiawan Bridge.

Caraga town is adjacent to Manay town where Kabayan made landfall on Monday morning.

Kabayan made the landfall as a tropical depression, after weakening from tropical storm. It further weakened into a low pressure area (LPA) on Monday afternoon.

The LPA was some 265 km west southwest of Zamboanga City as of 3 p.m. yesterday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

PAGASA said the LPA, along with the shear line, is expected to bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms to Mindanao; Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Mimaropa, and Calabarzon regions; and the provinces of Aurora, Masbate, Biliran, Leyte, and Southern Leyte

Dayanghirang said relief goods can be brought to the residents of the mountainous Barangay Lamiawan “once the river calms down, the flooding subsides.”

“We don’t expect them having difficulty at this time. However, we need to repair that (bridge). We cannot afford 7,000 families to be isolated,” he said.

Dayanghirang said Kabayan displaced 314 families or 1,396 individuals in the region. He said classes and work remain suspended in 14 local government units in the region.

“There’s a reported fatality (in the region) but we cannot confirm it yet. We cannot find the body so we cannot confirm it,” he said.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said one was reported missing in the Davao region.

The NDRRMC also said 25,489 families or 86,321 individuals were affected by Kabayan and by the shear line in 217 barangays in the Davao, Northern Mindanao and Caraga regions.

Of the number, 24,492 families or 82,703 individuals are