By Gene V. Baquiran
TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Nov. 11 (PIA) - Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba said all resources and equipment of the provincial government are now mobilized to help in the rescue and relief operations in the 11 towns affected by flooding recently.
As of 7:00 pm on Nov. 9, the flooding affected 66,375 individuals or 11,597 families leaving four dead, one injured and one missing.
Latest report showed that the 84 evacuation centers catered to 9,007 families or a total of 39,267 individuals.
Mamba assured that all farmers affected will be given assistance after evaluation has been made including aid for the displaced families in the affected towns and possible assistance for the families of four individuals who died.
Mamba said this is the first time that the 11 towns experienced massive flooding at the same time and said this should be a wakeup call for everybody.
“After this disaster, we will conduct a forum to assess what went wrong, what are our best practices and what should be done in the future,” he added.
He said this is the essence of the need to dredge the Cagayan River which he proposed but was being opposed by many.
“But let us look at it and reflect what must be done to avoid this kind of disaster again in the future,” Mamba added.
The towns severely flooded are Santa Praxedes, Claveria, Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Allacapan, Aparri, Gonzaga, Santa Ana and Baggao.
The governor added that rescue teams from the province of Isabela are now in Cagayan to extend humanitarian assistance and help in the rescue and relief operations.
No supertyphoon 'Ramon'
Meanwhile, Mamba urged the netizens to stop posting and sharing misinformed articles like the landfall of super typhoon Ramon on Nov. 27, 2019.
PAG-ASA has also issued an advisory to warn the public not to patronize news coming from uncertain sites as PAG-ASA is the only official source of hydro-meteorological related information in the Philippines.
Posting and sharing misleading article adds to the anxiety and instills fear for the people in flood-affected areas, the advisory said. (MDCT/GVB/PIA 2-Cagayan)