GENERAL SANTOS CITY – At least 56 city residents were displaced after their houses were washed away by rampaging floodwaters from the city’s hilly portion yesterday.
Ephraim Beliran, action officer of the city disaster and coordinating council, said two-meter deep floodwaters destroyed at least 15 houses mostly made of semi-concrete materials.
Most of the affected houses were located in the lowly area of a dead creek in Purok Banualan, Barangay Tambler, Beliran told The STAR.
Beliran said relief assistance have been extended to the flood-stricken families, seven of whom are temporarily housed in the barangay’s basketball court.
“We are still assessing the needs of the victims,” he said.
Beliran said the city government is thinking of a “Balik Probinsiya” program for the affected families since most of them hail from other provinces.
“We have to convince them to go back to their provinces since they are not actually registered in the barangay,” said Barangay Tambler chairman Abdul Basit Bualan.
Bualan vowed to clear the banks of the creek where the destroyed houses used to stand to avoid a repeat of the incident.