House swept away in Valencia City flood

MANILA, Philippines – This video, uploaded by Youtube user Kate Villahermosa, shows a house being swept away by floodwaters in Valencia City in the province of Bukidnon.

It was reported earlier that a flashflood hit the city during the daytime Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011. In the video, a number of distraught onlookers say there appears to be people still trapped inside the house.

Interviewed by Rappler on her mobile phone, Villahermosa, a Valencia City store owner, says the video was taken at around 9 am on Tuesday. She says the house that was swept away eventually got submerged under the Pulangui bridge. There were other homes swept away by floodwaters. “There were many people crying. They were pointing to their houses as those got swept away by the flood.”  

Villahermosa says it had been raining incessantly in the area since early afternoon of Monday, December 26. Towards 10 pm of the same day, text messages regarding the raging Pulangui river started circulating among residents in the area.

People started evacuating at around 3 am when they heard that the river had already started to swell, Villahermosa says. Among the most affected areas, according to her, is the upper part of Barangay Sugod in Valencia City. “They were the ones who started texting.” – Rappler.com

(Video reposted with Ms. Villahermosa’s permission.)