ILOILO City – Heavy rains and massive flooding brought by Tropical Storm “Paeng” killed five and displaced more than 75,000 individuals from 142 barangays in Western Visayas.
As of 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, a total of 24,530 families composed of 75,767 individuals were affected by flooding and landslides, according to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council 6 Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The region also logged five casualties – one in Tapaz, Capiz and four in Aklan.
Brigette Abordo, municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer of Tapaz town, confirmed to Panay News one death due to the typhoon.
Citing a blotter report from Tapaz police, Abordo said the casualty was JP Buendia, 28, of Barangay Roxas but temporarily residing in the town’s Barangay Carida.
On Thursday, Oct. 27, Buendia was swept away by the strong current of water while crossing the river in Barangay San Roque.
A search and retrieval team recovered Buendia’s body in a sitio in Barangay San Carida yesterday.
Abordo also shared that Tapaz had an initial of 653 affected families composed of 2,435 individuals from 12 barangays. A total of 16 barangays were flooded, she said.
In Aklan, the office of Gov. Jose Enrique M. Miraflores reported on Friday afternoon four dead persons in Libacao town.
Of the four, three were abaca farmers who got trapped by floodwaters on Thursday, according to a report from Rappler.
Libacao vice mayor Vincent Navarossa said the three farmers failed to leave their area of work before highland waters rushed into the area where abaca was being grown.
Meanwhile, as per report from the region’s EOC, here is the breakdown of typhoon-affected families per province as of 4 p.m. on Friday:
* Aklan – 4,469 families or 14,786 persons from 26 barangays of four municipalities (Banga, Libacao, Kalibo, and New Washington);
* Antique – 678 families or 2,584 persons from 15 barangays of Culasi;
* Capiz – 17,542 families or 52,138 persons from 78 barangays from 10 municipalities (Maayon, Panay, Pontevedra, Cuartero, Dao, Dumalag, Jamindan, Mambusao, Sigma, and Tapaz);
* Iloilo – 869 families or 2,986 individuals from six barangays of Passi City; and
* Negros Occidental – 792 families or 3,273 persons from 14 barangays from four municipalities (Calatrava, San Carlos City, EB Magalona, Sipalay City).
State weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) placed the whole region composed of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 yesterday.
As of this writing, there are 1,078 displaced families composed of 4,015 persons who are taking shelters at various evacuation centers in the region. They are the following:
* Aklan – 1,428 families or 5,162 persons;
* Antique – 87 families or 204 persons;
* Capiz – 771 families or 2,790 persons;
* Iloilo province – 349 families or 1,342 persons; and
* Negros Occidental – 333 families or 1,366 persons.
The EOC also reported 313 displaced families or 1,103 persons outside evacuation centers or stayed with their families or other shelters.
Meanwhile, based on the report of respective provincial disaster risk reduction and management offices, there were a total of 17 municipalities in the region that were flooded.
These are Libacao, Altavas, Nabas, Kalibo, Numancia, and Balete in Aklan; Tibiao in Antique; Cuartero, Dumalag, Sigma, Jamindan, Mambusao, Tapaz, Panay, Dumarao, and Maayon in Capiz; Dingle in Iloilo; and seven barangays in Bacolod City.
There were also landslide incidents that were logged in Barangay Alaminos, Madalag, Capiz; Torralba-Daguitan Boundary, Banga, Aklan; and Barangay Castillo, Tibiao, Antique;
Also, the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, and several municipalities in Iloilo have suspended classes in all levels in their respective areas on Friday.
So far, only Sipalay City in Negros Occidental has submitted a report on seven houses that were totally damaged in their area.
Several sea ports in the region have also cancelled trips leaving around 1,080 passengers from Iloilo (521), Negros Occidental (496) and Aklan (63) stranded.
Meantime, two roads in Aklan including one reported damaged bridge – the Kalibo-Numancia bridge, 17 roads in Capiz, and one bridge in Iloilo were reported not passable due to high water levels./PN
