• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
About 6,797 people have been forced into evacuation centers as heavy rains, triggered by the enhanced southwest monsoon and Tropical Storm Crising, hit 13 Negros Occidental towns and cities for the second consecutive day, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) disclosed on Friday.
Two people died of electrocution in Hinobaan town, while a fisherman was reported missing in Sagay City on July 17, PDRRMC reports added.
Kabankalan City registered the most number of evacuated residents at 1,613, as of 11 a.m. yesterday.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson reported yesterday that local government units, mostly in the 5th and 6th districts of Negros Occidental were affected by flooding, and evacuation of affected residents was still ongoing as of press time.
Lacson said he expects that some of the LGUs which were heavily affected by the flooding will declare a state of calamity.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer Irene Bel Ploteña also reported the occurrence of a flash flood in Pontevedra, on Friday, which stalled the travel of vehicles.
Evacuations of affected residents are also ongoing in Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Isabela, and Moises Padilla, Ploteña added.
Negros Occidental 5th District Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo reported a landslide along a secondary national road which connects La Castellana, Negros Occidental, to Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.
Volcanic debris from Kanlaon Volcano was also reported to have flowed into a river in Barangay Biak Na Bato in La Castellana.
Yulo added that all the towns and cities in 5th district of Negros Occidental, including La Castellana, which is the LGU hardest hit by Kanlaon Volcano eruption, Moises Padilla, Isabela, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, Himamaylan City, experienced floods.
Two houses were carried away by strong current in barangays Crossing Magallon and Poblacion 1 in Moises Padilla, according to local disaster risk reduction officer Vincent Garcia.
Other LGUs hit by flooding were Hinobaan, Sipalay City, Cauayan, Ilog, Candoni, Calatrava, La Carlota and Pontevedra.
Mayor Benjie Miranda disclosed the likelihood of declaring a state of calamity in Kabankalan City.
Pedro Limpangog, president of the Federation of Irrigators’ Associations Central Negros – Bago River Irrigation System, reported that about 3,000 hectares of rice fields were affected by floods in the barangays of Sagasa and Caridad in Bago City, and Barangay Ayungon in Valladolid.
Classes remained cancelled on Friday in 24 local government units across Negros Occidental, while some LGUs also suspended work.
Ocean Jet ferry also suspended yesterday the Bacolod-Iloilo-Bacolod and Dumaguete-Siquijor-Tagbilaran trips of its vessels.*
