Floods displace thousands in Samar Island

published December 09, 2008 in Leyte Samar Daily Express, BusinessWorld and GMANews.tv

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Severe flooding hit some towns of Samar island and displaced thousands of individuals after continuous downpour for at least three days.

The municipal disaster coordinating council in Can-avid town, Eastern Samar province reported that 6,947 persons were affected by the flooding.

As of yesterday morning, the affected villages in Can-avid were Balagon, Boco, Pandol, Salvacio, Can-ilay, Baruk, Caghalong, Camantang, Jepaco, Mabuhay, Guibuangan and Malogo.

In Las Navas, Northern Samar, town engineer Romualdo Saises said in an interview that the river rose by 1.22 meters and flooded residential areas.

"About 80% of the 37,000 population in our town were affected with this flood [from] four days of excessive rain," he told BusinessWorld.

The Las Navas River also overflowed in Catubig and Laoang towns and rendered roads impassable.

David Adungay, chief of the Northern Samar 2nd engineering district, said in an interview that some portions of Laoang-Catubig and Palapag-Mapanas-Lapinig-Gamay roads were inundated.

Hundreds of light vehicles were stranded between Calbayog City in Samar and Catarman, Northern Samar (via Lope de Vega section).

Raulito Yangzon, assistant chief of Samar’s 1st district, reported a landslide in Cabacungan and Mag-ubay villages in Calbayog City. The Department of Public Works and Highways closed the road which connects Calbayog and Catarman.

"Half of the road in two villages in Allen and Rosario town [in Northern Samar] were not passable as mud and rocks covered the highway," said Sandy Pua, assistant chief of the Northern Samar 1st district.

In their report signed by Mayor Norman Germino, the local government appealed for food assistance, clothing and medicines.

There were also reports of flooding in Jipapad, Eastern Samar but these could not be confirmed by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as communication lines were down.

The weather bureau reported yesterday morning that a low pressure area was estimated at 70 kilometers north of Borongan City in Eastern Samar.

OCD reported that a 16-year-old boy was killed in Jipapad town in Eastern Samar. The victim, Jose Rosco, drowned while helping evacuate his neighbor in Barangay 1. - Sarwell Q. Meniano, BusinessWorld.