SOME 470 families from Barangays Iponan and Canitoan in Cagayan de Oro City were forced to evacuate from their homes on Tuesday due to overflowing rivers and creeks caused by heavy rains since Monday evening brought about by Typhoon Ramon.
In Barangay Iponan, at least 279 families have evacuated to safer grounds after the Iponan River started to ascend due to the continuous heavy rain.
Iponan Barangay Councilor Edgar Reyes said of the 279 families, 215 are from Sitio Bulao and are now housed at the Bulao Elementary School and at the Catholic Church.
Reyes said the other 64 affected families, from the portion of Zones 4, 1, 1A and 2, are now staying at the Iponan covered court.
“These families live near the river and if the heavy rains continue, we expect the number of evacuees to increase. But we’re praying that the rain would stop,” Reyes told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Canitoan Barangay chairman Joshua A. Taboclaon also confirmed that as of 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, some 191 families from Scions Phase II and Sentro Canitoan have also evacuated and are now staying at the Canitoan covered court.
Beverly Budiongan, a resident of Canitoan, said Phase 2 of Scions Subdivision, particularly those houses near Iponan River, have been greatly affected by the floods.
Vincent Fabria, also a resident of Scions Subdivision, claimed that residents in Phase 2 have already evacuated after floodwaters entered their houses.
Both Reyes and Taboclaon said the affected families were already given immediate food assistance by the barangays.
City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on police, fire and public safety, assured the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) has distributed relief goods to the affected families while evacuation centers in different barangays have already been prepared for other possible affected residents.
City Councilor Emmanuel D. Abejuela, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on public works, said the engineering department has monitored the affected areas for possible landslides.
City Vice Mayor Caesar Ian Acenas added that the Oro Alert/Rescue team is also monitoring the situation in the affected areas.
In nearby Igpit, in the town of Opol, Misamis Oriental, floodwaters have reportedly been in knee-deep as of Tuesday morning.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) spotted Ramon at 180 kilometers east northeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Areas under storm signal number 2 are Southern Leyte and Eastern Samar in the Visayas, and Surigao del Norte, Siargao Island, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Island in Mindanao.
With this, Nacaya is urging the public to be always vigilant.
Representative Mitos Magsaysay (Zambales) said the public should be proactive in conducting their own mitigating measures amid the threat of more typhoons and rains.
She added that Filipinos should also be conscious in disposing their wastes to prevent clogging of waterways, causing flashfloods.
