Floods hit Sarangani towns

COTABATO CITY — Rampaging floods on Saturday swept through towns in Sarangani that were badly devastated by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted the province early last week.

Local officials reported on Sunday that the flashfloods that hit Sarangani’s seaside Maasim town, the epicenter of Monday’s strong tremor, was preceded by recurring heavy downpours in the province which lasted for about four hours.

Shallow rivers crisscrossing interior areas in other towns in Sarangani, in General Santos, most affected by Monday’s earthquake, and in South Cotabato province also overflowed after the heavy rains, according to local officials.

The deadly earthquake damaged 609 big buildings, houses, classrooms and other infrastructures.

Local government units in Soccsksargen, officials of the Philippine Information Agency 12 and the Office of the Civil Defense 12 had separately informed reporters that the 7.8-magnitude tremor, which lasted for about two minutes, affected 73,436 families, many of them now in evacuation sites and makeshift shelters.

They are being provided with relief support and post calamity mitigation interventions by state line agencies, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development 12, the Police Regional Office 12, the Bureau of Fire Protection 12 and soldiers from the Army’s 6^th and 10^th Infantry Divisions.

The flashfloods on Saturday in Sarangani destroyed a bridge at a stretch of a highway in Barangay Lumasal in Maasim. It also reportedly prompted villagers in enclaves along rivers to relocate to highlands nearby.

Radio reports stated that policemen and soldiers were immediately dispatched by Soccsksargen’s police director, Brig. Gen. Alan B. Manibog, and Army Major Gen. Jose Vladimir R. Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, to the areas where Saturday’s flashfloods swept through to support emergency response operations of local officials. — John Felix M. Unson