6 dead in NLuzon flashfloods
TUGUEGARAO CITY: At least six persons died and two others were missing in flashfloods and landslides brought about by the northeast monsoon and the tail end of the cold front in Cagayan and Apayao provinces in Nothern Luzon this week.
Only two of the six victims have been identified.
A statement released by Rogie Sending of the Cagayan Provincial Information Office on Friday said 11 municipalities and 15 barangay ( villages) were flooded, affecting some 5,443 families or 22,062 individuals.
Sending said at least 1,791 families or 7,328 individuals from 62 villages sought shelter in 67 evacuation centers in the province, with the Task Force Lingkod Cagayan ( TFLC) leading search and rescue operations.
Rueli Rapsing, TFLC chief, said the towns affected by the continuous moderate to occasionally heavy rains were Aparri, Buguey, Gonzaga, Sta. Ana, Sta. Paxedes, Sanchez Mira, Abulug, Allacapan, Ballesteros, Camalaniugan, Claveria, Lal- lo, Pampolona, Sta. Teresita and Sto. Niño.
Rapsing added that the body of one of the missing persons who drowned as a result of the flashfloods in Claveria had been retrieved.
He said several carabaos also drowned in different towns in northern Cagayan.
Rapsing added that the TFLC continues to monitor the water level of rivers in the northern part of the province that rose to more than two meters as a result of heavy rains.
Killed in a landslide on Thursday evening in Barangay Dibagat in Kabugao, Apayao, were a provincial board member and a personnel of the Philippine National Police.
Police identified the victims as board member Butz Mangalao and Cpl. Rommel Gumidam, both residents of Barangay Dibagat.
Mangalao and Gumidam had been trapped inside their resapective houses.
In Calanasan, its municipal council approved a resolution declaring the town in a state of calamity over frequent flashfloods and landslides.
Landslides were also recorded by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in two villages in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.