Philippine History: Chapter 12 - The Malihao River Flood (1907) and Magnanud River Flood (1922)

Chapter 12. The Malihao River flood (1907) and Magnanud River flood (1922)

On January 9, 1907, dark skies covered the land and rains continued for days. But on January 11, at around 2 in the morning, Daan Banwa was awakened by flash floods from Malihao River that overflowed, causing the townspeople to panic with screams of "Ta-bang!" heard every where. 

People had to climb to the roof with waters as high as their necks near the site of the school and flowing in strong currents. When the waters subsided before noon, homes and businesses suffered losses from sacks of mascuvádo sugar, rice grains and other merchandise, to livestock like chicken, pigs, and even carabaos, cows and horses. Six people were reported to have been swept away along with a few houses.

A few days after the huge flood, on January 14,  news reached Daan Banwa about an old woman who was swept all the way to Estancia in Ilolo and miraculously survived by just clinging on a wooden table. She was from Saravia and their small house sat by the bank of Malogo River. 

But in 1922, when Sr. Vicente Ardoza was the town mayor, Magnanud River overflowed its banks and caused more than just losses to properties, goods, and livestock. 

(Traveling on a carabao cart 1900s with women in dresses seated while men guided the carabao)

Photo credit: Brochure of 1904 Philippine Exposition from the Johnathan Best and John Silva Collection)

When I read about the 1922 flood, I remember the most recent one. I was told that, in November 1995, Magnanud River flooded the areas of Embarcadero area and even spilled to as far as the Bat-us area of Barangay 3. Families were evacuated, the murky waters reached the roof of small homes, the coffins of the funeral parlor nearby were swept away floating like a horror-movie apparition, and everything you left behind got wet. 

If that huge flood happened in 1995, this type of deluge must have happened in that area before and that flood in 1922 must have been the same type or even worse. 

And we should all remember, if this happened before, it can happen again. Mother Nature does not exactly broadcast her intentions before striking.😱

So, the question now is: Did the flood of 1922 cause the town officials to think of moving the casa-municipal by the Magnanud River to a new site, one that has a higher elevation?😕

Chapter 13. Where can we find today the old streets created in 1906?

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