ILOILO – With all of its 23 barangays flooded when typhoon “Ursula” struck on Christmas Day, the municipality of Balasan in the northern part of this province declared a state of calamity yesterday afternoon.
The local government could now use its calamity fund to address the needs of its people, said Chinky Diolosa of Balasan’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).
“Our farming industry has been extremely affected, and that is the main livelihood of our people,” Diolosa told Panay News.
Even farm animals drowned in floodwaters, she lamented.
“All the 23 barangays also reported having partially damaged houses, mostly made of light materials. Luckily, there were no totally damaged ones,” said Diolasa.
The MDRRMO recorded 549 displaced families (2,251 individuals). As of this writing, they were still temporarily staying at the evacuation center of Balasan although floodwaters in some areas already subsided.
The local government released relief goods and these were augmented by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
According to Roxanne Baluya, PSWDO officer-in-charge, the provincial government released 25 boxes of canned goods and 50 sacks of rice.
There were four typhoon casualties – Danilo Abeliano of Barangay Poblacion Sur; Henry Alfuente of Barangay Manhut Sur; Jomar Dela Cruz of Barangay Dolores; and Claudia Aplomina of Barangay Gimamanay.
The local government of Balasan was thankful that there were no damage to public infrastructures such as roads and bridges.
“Some business establishments, however, incurred minor damage. There were shattered glass walls, for example, and roofs that were blown away,” said Diolasa.
The 23 barangays of Balasan are Aranjuez, Bacolod, Balanti-an, Batuan, Cabalic, Camambugan, Dolores, Gimamanay, Ipil, Kinalkalan, Lawis, Malapoc, Mamhut Norte, Mamhut Sur, Maya, Pani-an, Poblacion Norte, Poblacion Sur, Quiasan, Salong, Salvacion, Tingui-an, Zaragosa, and Pani-an.
Northern Iloilo was under typhoon signal No. 3 for some 12 hours – from 11 p.m. of Dec. 24 to 11 a.m. of Dec. 25.
By 5 p.m. on Dec. 25, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) lifted all typhoon signals in northern Iloilo.
In a bulletin issued at 5 p.m. yesterday, Pagasa announced that “Ursula” was already 300 kilometers northwest of Coron, Palawan, or 295 kilometers west southwest of Subic, Zambales.
The typhoon was still moving west northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (km/h). It maintained its strength, with maximum winds of 120 km/h and gustiness of up to 150 km/h going to the West Philippine Sea./PN
