By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) Updated December 18, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (59) Police rescue trapped residents following flashfloods triggered by storm 'Sendong' that inundated Cagayan de Oro City yesterday. Lower photo shows a child is carried by volunteers through muddy floodwaters. AP
| ZoomMANILA, Philippines - Flashfloods triggered by tropical storm "Sendong" killed 216 people with hundreds still missing across vast areas in Mindanao, officials said yesterday.Authorities feared the death toll would continue to rise as some estimates pegged the number of missing to as many as 250 people.The military said 117 bodies were recovered in Cagayan de Oro City while over 100 are still missing from the 23 barangays that were inundated by the overflowing Cagayan River.Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesman Col. Leopoldo Galon said most of the victims were asleep when the floodwaters rose.Most of those who are still missing, as well as the 15 who were rescued alive, were swept along with their houses towards the sea by rampaging floodwaters, the military reported."I can't explain how these things happened, entire villages were swept to the sea by flashfloods," Galon said."I have not seen anything like this before. This could be worse than 'Ondoy' he said, referring to a 2009 tropical storm that inundated Metro Manila, killing hundreds of people.Galon said an entire army division – about 10,000 soldiers – was involved in rescue efforts in Cagayan de Oro, with three military helicopters flying above the receding waters to look for survivors.Officials said 250 people remained missing in Iligan while 125 remained unaccounted for in Cagayan de Oro City.Over in Zamboanga del Norte, three persons drowned after they were swept away by rampaging floodwaters that hit the three villages of Polanco town, including an 80-year-old woman who had been trapped in the first floor of her flooded home, said provincial disaster officer Dennis Tenorio.There were also reports that five persons died in a landslide triggered by heavy rains at Purok 21 and 22 in Mt. Diwata, Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley region.A flashflood also hit the towns of Compostela, Monkayo and Nabuturan.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMMC) said 48 people were initially reported killed in other areas.NDRMMC director Benito Ramos said a second Army division deployed in Iligan City initially reported 40 deaths.The military later reported that as many as 91 people were killed in the floods.Ramos said floodwaters rose with alarming speed late Friday as people slept.Although residents had been warned of the approaching storm, some apparently dismissed the dangers of flash floods and landslides because most of Mindanao is rarely hit by storms."Complacency apparently set in," Ramos said. "Storms rarely hit this area and people probably became complacent even though they knew (a storm) was heading their way."Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said a house was completely damaged in a landslide that left five persons dead in the mining site of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo.In the towns of Nabunturan, New Bataan and Montevista, 121 families were displaced. Affected residents were immediately evacuated to gymnasiums and schools, as relief was being extended and medical assistance teams were also provided, Tonsay said.Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz said that at least 91 people were initially reported killed and that many more were missing.Cruz said the Coast Guard and other rescuers were scouring the city's coastal areas for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river.He said more than 12 hours of continuous rain over Iligan, as well as water from nearby mountains, had raised floodwaters waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding.Cruz said many people were caught by surprise when water rose one meter high in less than an hour, forcing people to climb onto the roofs of their homes."Most of them were already sleeping when floodwaters entered their homes," he said. "This is the worst flooding our city had experienced in years."Cruz said the flashfloods were triggered by two of the city's rivers that overflowed as a result of the continuous rains since Friday morning.Those missing included broadcaster Ernie Alsonado of RMN radio, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbors, he said."People are wailing and it is really sad," Cruz said.Cruz declared Iligan City under a state of calamity to allow emergency and relief services to the thousands affected by the floods.Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said that about 20,000 residents of the city had been affected and that evacuees were packed in temporary shelters.Television footage showed muddy waters rampaging through the streets, sweeping away debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.Ramos added officials were still getting reports and thus the number of casualties would likely rise.The floods were triggered by Sendong (international code name "Washi"), which dumped heavy rains over the Mindanao region overnight."Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City," Ramos said, adding that tens of thousands of people sought shelter on high ground.Sendong was the first storm that brought tremendous damage to parts of Mindanao since the 1970s.It cut across the region overnight and was over the Sulu Sea by midmorning yesterday, packing maximum winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 90 kph. It is expected to blow out of the country tonight, weather forecaster Raymond Ordinario said. –With Edith Regalado, Roel Pareño, Lino de la Cruz
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