The Department of Public Works and Highways in the region has called on called on motorists and travellers to avoid routes that considered prone to possible landslides and flooding.
Dean Ortiz, spokesperson of DPWH-11 said that as of 3:00 p.m. of January 19, some road sections in the Compostela Valley-Cateel Highway are still closed to the riding public.
Local government units, concerned line agencies and support groups have their hands full in undertaking pre-emptive evacuation to suspension of classes; clearing operations and round-the-clock monitoring of river systems.
The immediate closure and dispatching of personnel from DPWH-11 and the district offices were ordered by regional director Allan S. Borromeo on Thursday.
“Due to incessant rains, landslides have been reported along the following road sections of the Compostela-Cateel Road. Due to the hostile weather and slippery road conditions, motorists are hereby discouraged to take these routes,” Ortiz said in a phone interview.
Closed sections of Compostela Valley-Cateel highway include kilometer 1594+200 in Barangay Panansalan; kilometer 1600+000 in Barangay Ngan, particularly in Bango Section; and the Osmeña Section.
Ortiz said DPWH operations are still on-going in the area particularly the removal of debris due to landslides.
Parts of the same highway that were already declared passable as of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday include the kilometer 1592+100 in BarangayPanansalan; kilometer 1592+900 also in Panansalan.
DPWH-11 also announced that one lane of the following sections of Compostela Valley-Cateel highway are already declared passable as of 4:00 p.m. on Thursday – kilometer 1605+400 Bango Section in Barangay Ngan and kilometer 1606+500 in the same area in Ngan.
Ortiz added that DPWH equipments are still on standby in said areas for possibility of recurrence of flooding and landslides.
Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, around 30 families residing along Lasang River in Panabo City, Davao del Norte were already evacuated due to the heavy rains.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) said authorities were not discounting soil erosion as flood waters continue to inundate the area.
In the province of Compostela Valley, as of 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, pre-emptive evacuations were already conducted in the towns of Nabunturan, Montevista and Compostela.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) said families evacuated are those residing in areas considered prone to flooding and landslides.
Classes were also suspended in the towns of Mawab, Nabunturan, Montevista, Mobkayo, Compistela, New Bataan and Maragusan.
A total of 85 families were already pre-evacuated in Compostela town and 79 families in Nabunturan municipality.
All Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (MDRRMCs) in Compostela Valley are now on alert status while incident managements in the towns of Montevista and Compostela were already activated.
In Davao del Norte, as early as 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, the MDRRMC of Braulio E. Dujali town already installed its Incident Command Post in the area of Lower Magupising for rescue operation due to massive water level rising.
The MDRRMC added that as of 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, four families were already evacuated from Purok Maligaya in the area.
Evacuations were also reported in the town of Kapalong, Davao del Norte due to flooding.
