Floods, landslides send thousands fleeing in Bicol

December 30, 2017 - 7:24 AM
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Rescue workers wade through a flood. (file)

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Heavy rains over the past several days caused floods and landslides in nine towns of Camarines Sur that sent 2,267 families, or 9,322 persons, fleeing their homes the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol said.

OCD regional director Claudia Yucot said the floods in Ragay, Lupi, Bato, Sangay, Lagonoy, Tinambac and Garchitorena, and the landslides in Bato, Caramoan and Sagnay were caused by rains brought by the tail-end of a cold front .

In her report, she said flooding as high as 1.5 meters was reported in three barangays in Lupi town, where a spillway overflowed, forcing villagers to use boats to get around.

In Albay, Governor Al Francis Bichara on Friday also ordered the evacuation of villagers in flood- and landslide-prone areas of the province’s eastern seaboard.

Melody Azur of the Legazpi City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said floodwaters from one foot to shoulder-deep inundated several low-lying villages in the city’s business district as well as in the northern district.