Amid worst flooding in CDO in years, Pimentel appeals for aid

Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel lll today appealed for immediate aid for tens of hundreds of residents of Cagayan de Oro City where torrential rains Monday night caused "cataclysmic flash floods" and forced authorities to evacuate 11 barangays. The swift decisive, government response saved lives--but homes and villages were washed away, creating an army of evacuees in Northern Mindanao's premier city, Pimentel said.

"On behalf of Cagayan de Oro, I issue this urgent appeal. The city needs every assistance that our people can give. It needs immediate support for the reconstruction of destroyed houses and other damaged buildings," said Pimentel.

Pimentel said the affected residents need immediate food and clothing as their houses were washed away or are still submerged in waist-deep floodwater.

He thanked those who have already responded, in kind and in cash, to the city government's appeal.

City and social welfare officials, who were first to rush to the evacuation sites, described the flood as Ondoy-like, a reference the rampaging floodwaters that hit Metro Manila which lay in the path Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.

The Mindanao senator said that it is high time that local officials revisit the city's flood-control and infrastructure program. He has received reports that revealed the city's canals were clogged with trash, he said.

Heavy rainwater that cascaded from the mountains and valleys of Bukidnon rose quickly, creating flash floods that caught many by surprise, including city students who were stranded overnight.

Pimentel cited the city government's quick response that quickly evacuated thousands to safer ground to prevent a single casualty.

He said he would also talk to concerned government agencies, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Health (DOH), to extend assistance to the victims.