TWO persons died of drowning and some 12,000 others were affected by flooding caused by the trough of a low pressure area (LPA) in Zamboanga City.
Elmeir Apolinario, chief of the city’s disaster risk reduction office, said 30 out of 98 barangays were flooded on Wednesday due to heavy rains.
He said most of the floods have subsided as of yesterday morning.
“As of last night, more than 5,000 families were affected or 12,000 individuals. Out of 98 barangays (in the city), 30 were affected (by the flooding),” said Apolinario.
Apolinario said many of those affected were displaced and are being attended to social workers. He did not say how many were exactly displaced.
“Unfortunately, two persons drowned,” said Apolinario without giving additional details.
Apolinario said the weather condition in the city has improved as of yesterday.
The Office of Civil Defense, the operations arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, reported 10 other deaths in other regions due to the LPA since January 2.
Diego Mariano, head of the OCD’s Joint information Office, said five of these deaths are in Bicol region, four in Northern Mindanao and one in Davao region.
“Ten died, two are missing in Region III (Northern Samar), and four are injured,” said Mariano during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Mariano said the 106,961 families or 438,622 individuals were affected, of which 2,114 families or 8,163 individuals are staying in evacuation centers or with the families and friends.
In Northern Samar, authorities retrieved the remains of a soldier on Wednesday two days after he was swept away by strong current during a disaster response operation.
The Army’s 8th Infantry Division said the death of Corporal Jerry Palacio of the 43rd Infantry Battalion will not prevent its men from extending assistance to people affected by disasters.
Palacio was crossing a bridge in Barangay Happy Valley in San Isidro last January 9 when he was swept away by overflowing water.
The military said Palacio was on the way to the town’s disaster risk reduction and management office to coordinate with the other agencies and to monitor the effects of the continuous rainfall “when the unfortunate incident happened.“
Army, PNP and Coast Guard personnel were immediately dispatched to conduct search and rescue operation for the missing Palacio.
At around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, they found Palacio’s in the Mauo River in Sitio Marasbaras, also in Barangay Happy Valley, about three kilometers from the bridge he was trying to cross two days earlier.
Palacio’s body was brought to the town’s health office for postmortem examination prior to its transport and turnover to his family in Barangay Chitongco, Mondragon town also in Northern Samar.
