Cotabato City suspends classes at elementary level due to 'Egay'

Classes in the elementary level in public schools in Cotabato City in Mindanao were suspended Friday morning as rains brought by tropical depression "Egay" began to pour past 7 a.m. GMA News' Steve Dailisan also reported that the decision to suspend classes in the private and public high schools, colleges and universities was left to school principals and administrators. The low-pressure area that later intensified into tropical depression, codenamed Egay, brought rains that triggered widespread flooding in the city in the past few days.

According to Dailisan, the Cotabato City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRMC) officials fear that the Friday morning rains would further raise the water level at the Rio Grande de Mindanao, which is still clogged with water lily. Cotabato City officials have already ordered forced evacuation of residents along the Rio Grande de Mindanao. Citing CDRRMC data, the report said over 22,000 families have been affected by floods in the past days, adding that more than 5,000 families were still in evacuation centers as of Friday morning. School buildings have been prepared for new waves of evacuation due to Egay, it added. Also, it said that declogging operations at Rio Grande were hampered by the Friday morning rains. Based on aerial survey, over 20 hectares of water lily is now being swept to Rio Grande de Mindanao by water current from the Liguasan Marsh in the Mindanao water basin, the report said. Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was expected arrive in Cotabato Friday morning to check on the progress of declogging operation and to asses the destruction wrought by the floods, the report said. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News