Flooding and landslides hit the Philippines

March 17, 2011 – MANILA – Some 3,200 people were evacuated from their homes after floods and landslides occurred in parts of Visayas and Mindanao. On Thursday, the Office of the Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas said at least 500 people were evacuated from their homes in Palo, Leyte, due to floods.  (At least five villages in Palo were flooded. We had to evacuate the residents),” OCD Region 8 officer-in-charge Epifanio Pabilona said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said rain showers continued in Leyte as of early Thursday morning. For its part, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said some 2,700 people were brought to higher grounds due to floods and a tornado. In an 11 p.m. March 16 report that was posted on its website early Thursday, the NDRRMC said the floods and landslides occurred in Bohol; Samar; and Misamis Oriental, “due to continuous rains which caused the overflowing of some rivers in their areas.” The NDRRMC said an undetermined number of houses and rice fields were damaged, although no casualties were initially reported. The 2,700 evacuated included families from five barangays in Bohol, and 20 families (100 people) from three barangays in San Jose de Buan in Samar in Visayas; and 248 families (1,240 people) from El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. – GMA News