ILOILO City – More areas across Western Visayas got flooded yesterday due to continuous rains since Wednesday brought by a low-pressure area (LPA) and an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ).
As of 5 p.m. yesterday, 79 barangays from 10 localities, or 4,944 families composed of 22,812 individuals, in Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental provinces were displaced by floods, initial data from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed.
Capiz recorded the most number of areas affected by flooding.
Thirty-five barangays from the towns of Cuartero, Dumalag, Dumarao, and Tapaz experienced flooding, affecting 3,356 families or 16,558 individuals.
As of this writing, 86 families or 306 individuals were in evacuation centers with 118 families or 529 individuals more spilled outside centers.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6 received reports from Capiz of soil erosion in barangays Concepcion, Sta. Rita, San Rafael, San Martin, Sta. Monica, and Dolores in Dumalag town, and barangays Aglalana and Agsirab in Dumarao.
In Negros Occidental, two cities were flooded – San Carlos and Himamaylan.
In San Carlos City, 14 families or 52 individuals were affected while in Himamaylan City, 20 families or 100 individuals were affected.
The OCD-6’s initial report also showed four localities in Iloilo experienced flooding – Lambunao, Dueñas, Passi City, and San Enrique.
According to OCD-6, 1,574 families, or 6,202 individuals, from 43 barangays were affected. Out of these, 1,260 families, or 5,055 individuals, were displaced and stayed in evacuation centers. Some 311 families, or 1,136 individuals, were outside evacuation centers.
Meanwhile, the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) report showed 3,933 families were affected, and most evacuated on Wednesday, May 3.
The 3,933 families affected per locality: Pototan (770), Lambunao (438), Passi City (1,168), Dingle (518), Dumangas (1,016), and Calinog (23, but subject to changes).
The towns of Ajuy and Zarraga also experienced flooding, but the Iloilo PDRRMO has yet to receive reports on the number of affected families.
Further, five houses were totally damaged and four others were partially damaged in Calinog town, and one house was partially damaged in Ajuy.
Dr. Jerry Bionat, PDRRMO chief, said as of 12 noon yesterday, most evacuees had returned to their homes after the floodwaters subsided.
The affected families were given family food packs by their local government units (LGUs) and the provincial government is ready to augment if needed.
Bionat is also thankful that no missing persons or casualties were reported.
“So far, wala sang casualties, wala sang missing, even sa structures wala sang damages,” Bionat told Panay News yesterday afternoon.
The Ulian Bridge in Dueñas, meanwhile, was submerged in floodwaters from Wednesday night until yesterday morning. It was only passable to all types of vehicles by 12 noon yesterday.
According to Bionat, more than 20 towns in the province reported experiencing light to moderate rainfall from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
But Calinog, Lambunao, Dueñas, and Passi City experienced heavy rains. Because of this, Bionat explained that these localities experienced water overflows from fields and creeks that would first hit low-lying areas.
The PDRRMO chief also said flooding in central towns may have been caused by the absence of trees in the mountain areas.
“Waay na gid man siguro sang kahoy sa kabukiran nga supposed to be mag-hold sang tubig,” he said.
LPA may develop into a tropical depression
Meanwhile, OCD-6 warned that the LPA is likely to develop into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours and that it will exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Sunday, May 7.
However, another LPA may enter the PAR on the same day and bring rains in the coming days over Eastern Visayas and the eastern section of Mindanao.
The OCD-6 added that light to moderate with at times heavy rains over Palawan and Western Visayas are expected until today and expect scattered rains and thunderstorms until Sunday over some parts of Visayas and Mindanao due to the ITCZ./PN
