NDRRMC: Mindanao flooding affects over 60K families

FAMILIES affected by flooding in Mindanao since last week has reached over 60,000, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said a cloud cluster east of Mindanao developed into a low pressure area yesterday. As of 3 p.m. yesterday, it was some 440 km east of Davao City.

PAGASA weather specialist Veronica Torres said there is possibility the LPA will intensify into a tropical depression.

If it develops into a tropical depression, it will be named “Butchoy” and will be the country’s second tropical cyclone this year.

Torres said the trough or extension of the LPA will bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in the Eastern Visayas, Caraga, and Davao regions.

The NDRRMC, in a situation report, said most of the affected families the floods caused by southwest monsoon rains are in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with 46,812 families. The NDRRMC said it has yet to receive information how many individuals compose the affected families in BARMM.

The NDRRMC said 14,209 other families or 54,289 persons were also affected in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Soccsksargen regions.

Of the 60,841 total families affected by the calamity, 51,653 are displaced, being served inside and outside evacuation centers, the NDRRMC said.

Two persons died from the flooding, one of them a 47-year-old female, who drowned in Maramag, Bukidnon. Her body was found in Kabacan town in North Cotabato. Her death has been validated by the NDRRMC.

The second reported fatality, a drowning victim from the Davao region, is still subject to validation. The fatality drowned in Jose Abad Santos town in Davao Occidental.

The NDRRMC said one person remained missing in Northern Mindanao and two were reported injured, also in Northern Mindanao.

The council said 73 houses were damaged in Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao and Soccsksargen regions. It placed the cost of damage at P2.11 million.

Cost of damage to agriculture in Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao alone at P17.87