CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Two days of intermittent rain due to a low pressure area (LPA) made rivers swell and brought floodwaters that forced hundreds to flee their homes in search of safer grounds in Iligan City after midnight on Monday, March 7.

Iligan Mayor Celso Regencia suspended work and classes at all levels as major roads and bridges turned impassable due to floods and landslides.

A bridge in the village of Merila collapsed and another in Barangay Pala-o was damaged, according to city hall spokesman Jose Pantoja.

A third bridge, he said, became impassable because of flood debris.

“The water rose higher than the bridges,” Pantoja said.

He said at least six houses were washed away by rampaging floodwaters and several others were damaged.

Pantoja said it has been raining in Iligan since Saturday, March 5.

“It rained hard for hours until 3 pm (Sunday, March 6), and then it started raining again. By then the rivers were already swelling,” he told Rappler.

Pantoja said the rampaging floodwaters came around 1 am on Monday, forcing families in several villages to evacuate.

City hall has so far counted more than 1,000 people in evacuation centers in Iligan as of 4 pm on Monday, he said.

He said it continued to rain in Iligan City as of this posting, and “we are worried about the high tide,” and more flooding as a result. – Rappler.com