Death toll from landslides, floods in Davao rises to 15

FIFTEEN people have died due to the shear line that caused landslides and flooding in the Davao region, mostly in the province of Davao de Oro, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.

Davao de Oro declared a state of calamity on Saturday night.

The NDRRMC said eight of the 15 fatalities have been validated or confirmed. They died after a landslide buried a house in Mt. Diwata in Monkayo, Davao de Oro last Thursday. Five were confirmed injured in the incident.

In a progress report, the NDRRMC said five deaths in Davao de Oro are subject to validation, together with two deaths in Davao City.

Ednar Dayanghirang, director of the Office of Civil Defense in the Davao region, also reported 15 confirmed deaths in the region but provided a different breakdown.

Dayanghirang said 11 died in the Monkayo landslide; two in a landslide in Barangay Tagatto in Davao City; one due to a landslide in Maragusan town, also in Davao de Oro; and one in Davao Occidental although he did not say the cause of death.

The Monkayo municipal government, in its Facebook page, said the body of the 11th fatality in the Mt. Diwata landslide — Rommel Gumatin, 45 — was retrieved by search workers at around 1 p.m. last. Saturday.

It identified the 10 other fatalities in the landslide as one-year-old Arjay Gumatin; Dysna Gumatin, 3; Ailee Gumatin, 8; Hannah Gumatin, 9; Cristelle Gumatin, 10; Catherine Gumatin, 27; Marjomie Nenaria, 33; Ritchell Reboldad, 35; Elvera Saldua, 35; Agnes Bitoon, 44.

A report provided by Dayanghirang showed 112,999 families or 493,199 individuals in Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Davao City were affected.

Of the total, 6,470 families or 19,828 individuals are housed in evacuation centers.

Sixteen houses were reported to have been damaged, the report said.

Floods were reported in 225 barangays, the OCD Davao region said. There were 63 landslide incidents reported in 63 barangays, the report added.

Dayanghirang said floods in the region have already as the weather condition improved last Saturday.

RECOVERY

Dayanghirang said there was extensive damage to agriculture based on initial aerial survey