By Nanette Guadalquiver
BACOLOD CITY – Hundreds of individuals fled their homes on Sunday night after flash floods hit three localities in northern Negros Occidental, following torrential rains caused by the shearline affecting the Visayas.
In Cadiz City, 1,730 persons or 430 families in five villages were displaced, data from the city government showed Monday.
These include those from Barangay Burgos, 1,200 persons (300 families); Barangay Daga, 60 persons (15 families); Barangay Mabini, 60 persons (15 families); Barangay Andres Bonifacio, 210 persons (50 families); Barangay Luna, 200 persons (50 families).
The affected residents sought shelter in evacuation centers situated in the covered courts of the four villages as well as in Daga Elementary School.
Most affected were residents of Sagrado Villas housing site in Barangay Burgos, where some residents were rescued from the rooftops by volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross Negros Occidental-Bacolod City Chapter.
“Almost half of the housing project area has been submerged. Residents said it was a flash flood. It happened really fast. The village chief said that in less than five minutes, the waters rose so they were not able to prepare,” Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said in a radio interview.
Escalante said after the floodwaters subsided, the affected families in Barangay Burgos were able to return home, and are being provided relief assistance by the city government.
“The immediate need is rice, food. We are sending hot meals. Others also need dry clothing,” he added.
Initial reports indicated that in the adjacent Manapla, the hardest hit were residents of Barangay 1-A, with all 11 of its purok (sub-villages) affected by the massive flooding.
Displaced residents were brought to evacuation centers in five schools and a gymnasium.
In Victorias City, 37 individuals from 10 families in Barangays 21, 7 and 6 were also evacuated to the city coliseum, according to the Facebook post of Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez.
After the rains stopped by 1:30 a.m. and the floodwaters subsided, “most of the affected families have been able to return home,” he added.
Benitez said the city government will “continue to provide support and address the immediate needs” of the families with damaged homes.(PNA)
