Butuan City – Amid the humid weather and the lack of rain for the past 3 days, flood waters in Butuan City continued to rise, with the number of affected reaching more than 10,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
 
The floodwaters that flowed from Davao de Oro and Agusan del Sur have inundated several riverside communities in Butuan City. 

This prompted the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) order forced evacuation in the affected barangays on Sunday, as the Agusan River recorded a water level of 2.8 meters, prompting a red warning alert level.
 
From the initial 13 barangays affected by the flood on February 4, the number of affected barangays has increased to 23 out of the city’s 86 or 26% of the whole city.
 
The CDRRMO said that as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 3,263 families or around 10,043 individuals have been affected by the flood, even as the Agusan River water level continues to rise.
 
According to residents, flood waters started to rise on February 2 and made it to some of the barangay roads by the third day, which prompted several barangays to order pre-emptive evacuation in some areas.
 
An advisory from state weather bureau PAGASA on February 5, pointed out in a flood bulletin that the rising and fluctuating water levels at the midstream and downstream Agusan River were observed and will continue for a few days due to flood waters coming from the upstream areas of the basin.
 
Upstream areas of the Agusan river basin cover Davao de Oro to Sta. Josefa and Veruela in Agusan del Sur while the midstream portion of the river basin is where the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur is located. Several of its tributaries and the lower basin of the Agusan river, still parts of Agusan del Norte, end towards the mouth of the river connecting to Butuan Bay in Butuan City.
 
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Caraga Region has urged the residents in vulnerable communities to evacuate before the flooding situation gets worse.