Several floods and landslides were reported in parts of Visayas and Mindanao over the weekend as the trough of a low-pressure area brought persistent rains.
Thousands of residents in Butuan City as well as in the neighboring provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur fled their homes Saturday.
In Butuan City alone, some 5,026 families from 38 villages moved to evacuation centers for safety.
A landslide was also reported in Barangay De Oro on Saturday morning but was immediately cleared out in the afternoon.
“We remind our residents in Butuan to be always on alert, especially in times of disasters, to save lives,” the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) said Sunday as it distributed some 2,543 food boxes to affected residents.
In Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte, the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reported that 15 villages were hit by flooding, with a total of 803 families or 3,516 individuals directly affected and are temporarily sheltered in 22 evacuation centers.
In Jabonga also in Agusan del Norte, four villages were affected by flooding that sent 216 families or 720 persons to evacuation sites while in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, at least 83 families also abandoned their flooded homes.
Landslides were reported in the town of Sibagat in Agusan del Sur, particularly in Barangay Kioya and in Purok 1, Barangay Mahayahay; and in Barangay Tigbao in Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands.
In the Visayas area, some 15 people in Barangay Rizal of the town Tomas Oppus in Southern Leyte were affected by landslides triggered by the LPA’s rains.
The Wright-Taft Road in Eastern Samar was also closed to traffic after the national highway in Binaloan town was hit by a landslide.
In its advisory on Sunday, the state weather bureau said the LPA will bring moderate to heavy with at times intense rains over Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Quezon, Bicol Region, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Samar.
The LPA, however, remains less likely to develop into a tropical depression.