At least 400 families or some 1,850 individuals were displaced by floods and landslides in eight villages of Zamboanga City as of Thursday afternoon as rains brought by an intertropical convergence zone poured since Tuesday.
According to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), the displaced families are temporarily sheltered in five evacuation centers.
Initial reports from the CDRRMO listed the villages of Talisayan, San Jose Gusu, Pasonanca, Tigtabon, Tugbungan and Guiwan as hit by flood while Tulungatung and La Paz were hit by landslides.
Some 45 families with 127 individuals were displaced in Talisayan, San Jose Gusu with 227 families or 1,344 individuals, Pasonanca with 14 families or 53 individuals, Tigtabon with 24 families or 78 individuals, Tugbungan with 70 individuals, Guiwan with 84 families or 221 individuals, and a combined total of two families or 10 individuals in Tulungatung and La Paz. Mayor Khymer Olaso has ordered the City Social Welfare and Development Office to provide immediate relief assistance to the affected families. Olaso earlier declared class suspensions on Wednesday and Thursday due to the inclement weather.
CDRRMO chief Elmeir Apolinario said the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is continuously monitoring the situation in the barangays, especially the low-lying and flood-prone areas and is ready to respond to emergencies in light of the unstable weather condition.
On Wednesday evening, the local government deployed a fleet of vehicles to give free rides to stranded commuters as only a few public utility vehicles continued plying on their routes due to flooded street sections. /mr