3 Dead in Compostela Valley Due to Cold Front

Flash floods and a landslide killed at least three people in this province, officials said Monday, as disaster response teams were dispatched to deliver relief goods to the victims.

Nonstop rains pummeled Compostela Valley over the weekend as the tail-end of a cold front brought bad weather in portions of Davao Region, swelling rivers and triggering a landslide that buried a house.

In Nabunturan, 11-year-old Krisel Hermosura and her elderly grandmother Beatriz Hermosura were swept away by the rampaging floodwaters on Saturday morning, January 26, as the pair retrieved the clothes they had dried near the river in Sitio Jandorumog, Barangay Bayabas.

Beatriz, 67, found herself alive in the riverside but the younger Hermosura was not as lucky as her grandmother. Krisel’s lifeless body was found in Barangay Linda, a few kilometers from that spot.

In Montevista town, a certain Rommel Gogo, 28, was buried under mud and debris on Saturday afternoon when a landslide invaded his home.

According to Montevista information officer Edwin Antia, Gogo and his family abandoned their house as waters started to rise in their neighborhood. However, he came back and forth to their house to check their domestic animals.

On the same day, a certain Dennis Pesadilla drowned in Tinago Creek, Barangay Ngan in Compostela town.

Since early morning of January 26, moderate to heavy rains have pounded the province due to the tail end of the cold front.

A total of 1,419 families from eight municipalities were displaced.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center reported that 104 families were evacuated in Mawab, 591 in Monkayo, 174 in Laak, 254 in Nabunturan, 70 in Montevista, 178 in Compostela, 42 in New Bataan, and 6 in Maco.

The families were provided with relief goods and meals from their respective municipal government units and Red Cross.

Based on the initial assessment on agriculture, P2.557 million worth of rice and corn fields in 404.8 hectares were damaged in Compostela town. (PIA-11)