BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The non-stop rains experienced in Negros Occidental, particularly in San Carlos City, caused a landslide late Tuesday night, Oct. 25.
Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, Dr. Zeaphard Caelian, said the San Carlos City’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) reported on Tuesday night that a landslide took place at around 8:30 p.m. on the upper portion of the Eco-translink Highway.
No one was hurt although debris blocked the highway that links San Carlos City with the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto, Murcia and Bacolod City.
Several buses were reported to have been stuck for at least 30 minutes, prompting the DRRMO to call in their dozers to remove the debris as well as the large boulders blocking the road, while the trucks transported stranded travelers bound for San Carlos City.
By 9:05 p.m., one lane of the road was reopened to traffic after some of the debris had been cleared out.
According to Caelian, the rains experienced between late Tuesday night and yesterday were caused by a combination of a low pressure area (LPA) and shearline, and not by Tropical Depression “Paeng”, which also formed yesterday morning 965 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas.
“Paeng” is not expected to hit the Visayas but will instead curve northwards to Luzon.
However, Caelian pointed out that the PDMPD and local DRRMOs must still prepare as the storm’s rain bands could still generate flashfloods and landslides in some parts of the province.
San Carlos City was placed on “Alert Level 3” as the rains generated by the LPA could still aggravate the high sea level due to high tide around 11 a.m. yesterday.
As a precaution, the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division in San Carlos City ordered a suspension of classes./PN
