COTABATO CITY – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has mobilized additional manpower on Saturday to help those trapped and affected families in Lanao del Sur province hit by typhoon Vinta (Tembin) that left at least two dozen people dead and missing.
Worse hit is the province of Lanao del Sur where heavy rains submerged villages and triggered landslides in many areas, according to an initial report by ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, who has been monitoring the situation since late Friday.
Marawi City, which had been devastated by war for 5 months, was also flooded, he said, adding, they have been coordinating with provincial and municipal governments, and the military in an effort to hasten search and rescue, and relief operations. “Initial reports indicate damaged properties and a number of casualties, especially in Lanao del Sur,” he said.
Hataman said members of the ARMM Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team have been deployed and assisting in relief efforts in flooded areas in the province.
He said those in the affected areas who have access to social media on their mobile phones can communicate with ARMM through its Facebook page https://facebook.com/armmgovernment. “For immediate concerns, ARMM residents may message the regional government through the Bureau of Public Information’s Facebook,” he said.
He also inspected areas worse hit by the cyclone while supervising relief efforts there and submitting his reports to the national government agencies.
Salma Tamano, a spokesperson for the provincial government, citing a report from the Lanao del Sur Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said the following towns were affected by the storm Poona Bayabao, Maguing, Bubong, Ramain, Tamparan, Marantao, Wato, Bacolod-Kalawi and Madalum.
She said rescue team personnel were dispatched to the affected towns to help attain the plight of the victims and search for the missing persons. The powerful storm also cut off electricty and shutdown the grid transmission line after 14 electric posts were toppled down, the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative reported in its bulletin.
In Balo-i town, Muhaimin Rasol, its spokesperson, said they put up five evacuation centers for Marawi residents affected by flash floods.
Aside from Lanao del Sur, the northern Mindanao city of Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental province was severely affected by flash floods and displaced nearly 2,000 people now staying in evacuation centers.
In Zamboanga Sibugay province, police reported that a four-year old boy, Antonio dela Cruz III, was killed and another wounded in a mudslide in Payao town late Friday. The mudslide, police said, destroyed the family’s house.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the storm is expected to leave the country in the coming days. (Mindanao Examiner. With a report from Moh Saaduddin.)
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