CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The fury of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami) has been felt even in some parts of Mindanao.
In a report to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Northern Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office chief Nick Jabagat said 236 people or 76 families were evacuated on Wednesday and Thursday, October 23 and 24, as the winds and waves caused by the severe tropical storm battered coastal villages of Cagayan de Oro.
Jabagat said Kristine’s strength and gusts generated huge waves that reached Cagayan de Oro and other parts of Northern Mindanao.
OCD Regional Director Antonio Sugarol said Kristine also adversely affected 130 families on the island province of Camiguin. He added that four houses were destroyed in Sagay town, Camiguin, alone.
Northern Mindanao and other areas were being affected by the trough of Kristine, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Japhet Catacutan Medel Bendol, a 49-year-old mother of five, said she expected gale-force winds but not the large waves generated by Kristine that washed away her house and two others in Cagayan de Oro on Wednesday.
Bendol said a neighbor informed them that morning that big waves had battered houses near the seawall in Barangay Tablon.
“By the next morning, our 28-year-old house was gone. Its entire wooden structure was destroyed,” Bendol said.
Jabagat said two more houses outside the seawall were destroyed by the waves. He noted that the families who owned these houses had been repeatedly warned to vacate but did not.
The severe tropical storm has exited the Luzon landmass as it heads for the open waters of the West Philippine Sea.
Kristine’s maximum sustained winds reached 95 kilometers per hour, with gusts of up to 160 km/h.
In a Rainfall Advisory No. 3, issued at 1 pm on Thursday, the state weather bureau warned of light to moderate rain in parts of Northern Mindanao due to the trough of Kristine.
Rain is expected to affect parts of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte in the Bangsamoro region, Cotabato province in the Soccsksargen Region, and Bukidnon in Northern Mindanao.
Moderate to occasionally heavy rain has been affecting Zamboanga del Norte, Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental, and the towns of Pagayawan, Binidayan, and Bayang in Lanao del Sur. – Rappler.com