Flood displaces thousands in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Thousands were forced to evacuate their homes as flash flood triggered by incessant rains inundated several areas in Zamboanga peninsula since Friday.

Elmeir Apolinario, Zamboanga City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office chief, said at least 13 barangays were inundated and 1,392 families evacuated to different government centers.

Most of the affected villages were in low-lying areas and near the tributary of Tumaga River, he added.

Intense rains and strong winds, spawned by the southwest monsoon, also triggered landslides in Bayog and Tigbao towns in Zamboanga del Sur, making some roads impassable, the regional disaster office said in a separate report.

Commodore Marco Antonio Gines, Coast Guard District Southwestern Mindanao commander, also reported that eight vessels – two passenger-cargo ferries and six fishing boats – run aground after encountering rough seas west of the city.

Gines said at least 19 crewmen of Ciara Joie 1 were rescued after their boat listed to its side.

The Coast Guard has cancelled the trips of all types of watercraft amid the prevailing rough sea conditions, he added.

At Zamboanga International Airport, flights were delayed after a creek nearby overflowed to the runway. Other flights were diverted to Davao City.

The regional disaster management office continues with its assessment to determine the number of affected families in the peninsula.

It confirmed, though, that a newly constructed hanging bridge in Barangay Ayala was destroyed, a parish church in Barangay Curuan damaged and the public markets of Siocon and eight other barangays in Sibuco town are under water.