CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY —- The number of fatalities due to the nonstop downpour caused by a shear line in the Northern Mindanao region rose to nine, a high ranking official from the Office of the Civil Defense Region 10 (OCD-10) confirmed on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
The fatalities were from the other parts of the region, apart from the first reported deaths in the province of Misamis Occidental, said Gilbert Conde, OCD-10 assistant director, in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Conde said two additional fatalities were recorded in Bukidnon province, one from Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental and a total of six deaths were recorded in Misamis Occidental.
According to the OCD-10’s progress report, as of 6 a.m. of December 27, the fatalities in Bukidnon were from the towns of San Fernando and Impalutao. Meanwhile, the six fatalities in Misamis Occidental are composed of two deaths each from Jimenez and Tudela towns, and Oroquieta City.
Misamis Occidental Governor Henry Oaminal earlier reported that there were already seven deaths in the province. However, the OCD-10 has yet to receive the report of the other fatality.
Apart from the recorded deaths, there are three missing individuals from Jimenez town.
The OCD-10 also recorded seven injured individuals, of which three are residents from Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental; two are from San Fernando, Bukidnon and two are from Clarin, Misamis Occidental.
Anthony Lucero, the weather service chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) regional forecasting center 10, said the shear line affecting Visayas and northern part of Mindanao will be moving toward the northern part of the country starting on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
“For the meantime, we are still experiencing heavy rainfall not just in Cagayan de Oro but all over Northern Mindanao. That includes Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte and the northern portion of Zamboanga,” Lucero said in the same virtual press conference.
The region has been experiencing nonstop rains caused by the shear line even up to this date since the PAGASA issued its first rainfall advisory due to the said weather condition on Dec. 23.
As of 6 a.m. of Dec. 27, the OCD-10 already tallied 14,456 families or 67,733 affected individuals, of which 8,966 families (40,564 individuals) are currently staying in the evacuation centers.
The latest report from the OCD-10 also showed that the initial estimated damages to houses, infrastructure and agriculture by the current weather condition is now at P33,926,000.
The initial estimated damage on houses in the region is P11,290,000. This covers the 80 totally damaged (P5,200,000) and 466 partially damaged (P6,090,000) houses from four different provinces.
For the infrastructure, it tallied P15,500,000 initial estimated damage and this covers damaged roads, bridges, power lines and water system.
Meanwhile, the nonstop downpour already incurred P7,136,000 initial estimated damage in the agriculture sector. This covers the damages tallied in rice production (P1,350,000), fisheries (P5,750,000) and fishing boat and fishing gears (P 36,000).
The local government units of the affected areas, together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 10, are continuously monitoring the situation in the evacuation centers to address the needs of the affected residents.
The local government of Cagayan de Oro already sent a team to deliver relief goods to the affected areas.