By Martin Sadongdong
A total of 3,191 families were displaced due to heavy rains brought by tropical storm Falcon and enhanced by the southwest monsoon (Habagat), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Wednesday night.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director and Civil Defense Administrator Ricardo Jalad
(Jay Ganzon | Manila Bulletin File Photo)
In an update around 9:20 p.m., NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said the affected families were evacuated due to flooding incidents reported in the municipalities of Lala, Kapatagan, Salvador, Sapad and Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte province.
The breakdown of affected families are as follows:
Kapatagan - 1,567 families
Lala - 645 families
Sapad - 775 families
Salvador - 147 families
Sultan Naga Dimaporo - 57 families
Affected families in Lala and Sapad towns were temporarily staying at the respective town evacuation centers as well as in some gymnasiums, schools and barangay halls.
In Kapatagan town, affected families were staying at the municipal gymnasium.
Evacuees in Salvador and Sultan Naga Dimaporo towns have returned to their homes after the flood in their barangays subsided.
Meanwhile, the Lanao del Norte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) raised a "Red" alert status in the province.
The NDRRMC said that a red alert status is usually raised to give a heads up to its member-agencies that immediate help must be given to families affected by torrential rains in a particular area.
Prompt activation of response clusters, including the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Dept. of Science and Technology (DOST)-Pagasa, DOST-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Education (DepEd) among others, must be done when a red alert status is declared in an area.
Tropical Storm Falcon made landfall in Gattaran, Cagayan around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, said an NDRRMC situation report citing information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Meanwhile, a new low-pressure area (LPA) was spotted 125 km west of Sinait, Ilocos Sur as of 4 p.m.