Vinta displaces over 12k families

More than 12,000 families have been displaced by cyclone Vinta's floods and landslides  as it swept through the Caraga and Davao regions, a disaster management official said Saturday.

Office of Civil Defense Spokesperson Romina Marasigan told reporters at Saturday's press briefing that 12,760 families had to be evacuated to 211 evacuation centers due to Vinta, which is now making its way toward Southern Palawan.

From a storm, Vinta weakened into a tropical depression as it lashed through central and northern Mindanao on Friday, and intensifies into a storm again over the Sulu Sea on its way to Palawan early on Saturday.

Elsewhere, floods have been recorded in several areas, including the municipality of Baco in Oriental Mindoro, some places in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Cagayan De Oro City, she said.

Landslides, meanwhile, have occurred in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte before all Tropical Cyclone Warning Signals in Mindanao were lifted.

Marasigan declined to give an exact number of casualties, those missing, and injured persons, saying the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) is awaiting an update from the Management of the Dead and Missing Persons Cluster, headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and from the Department of Health.

But reports as of Saturday morning showed at least 30 people have died in floods and landslides due to the heavy rains of Vinta, which entered the country on the heels of another deadly storm Urduja.

Vinta, which made landfall in Cateel, Davao Oriental early Friday morning, knocked down power connections, leaving several municipalities in Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Bukidnon, Lanao del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del  Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Surigao del Sur without electricity.

Access to clean water, meanwhile, has been a challenge for residents of Cagayan de Oro City after their "water booster pump" went dead under heavy, incessant rains.

Meanwhile, 3,067 passengers, 222 rolling cargoes, 74 vessels and 20 motor bancas have been stranded in several ports in Manila, Cebu, Tagbilaran, Iloilo, Surigao, Cagayan de Oro, Ozamis, Iligan, Siargao, Dapitan, Butuan, Western Leyte, Bacolod, Southern Leyte, and Dumaguete.

Port operations are expected to resume as Vinta moves away from the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Sunday, Marasigan said.

At least, 16 houses have been damaged by the winds of Vinta, and by a storm surge it caused.  Of the number, 14 of were completely destroyed, and two partially. These were recorded in the municipalities of Bacolod in Lanao del Norte, Montevista in Compostela Valley, Asuncion in Davao del Norte, and Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay.

A spillway in Cabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, a bridge and a hanging bridge in Bacolod, Lanao del Norte and another in Zamboanga Sibugay were also damaged.

Vinta is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility between Sunday morning and afternoon. —LBG, GMA News