Flooding caused more than 4,000 residents in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental to evacuate on Friday, Sept. 13, according to initial reports.
Search operations were ongoing for a 5-year-old boy who drowned in a river in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod City, Friday night, Barangay Captain Lady Gles Gonzales-Pallen said.
The flooding was caused by heavy rain brought on by the southwest monsoon and tropical storm Bebinca that was renamed Ferdie when it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) Friday night.
Ferdie was expected to exit the PAR early Saturday morning.
There were 142 families with 486 members who evacuated in barangays Handumanan, Alijis, Sum-ag, Pahanocoy, Cabug, Taculing and Singcang in Bacolod City as of 10 p.m. Friday, Earl Edward Ramirez of the Bacolod Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said.
BAGO CITY
The Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported that as of 7 p.m. Friday 652 families with 1,943 individuals were affected by heavy rains and flooding.
There were 1,354 individuals inside various evacuation centers in the city, including the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center. The 589 were outside the evacuation centers, it added.
SIPALAY CITY
There were 362 families with 1,304 members who evacuated in Sipalay City, Dionilo Bogtae, head of the Sipalay Emergency Assistance and Rescue Services, said.
The evacuees were from barangays Gil Montilla, Mamboroto, Cartagena, Cabadiangan and 3, he said.
A landslide also occurred along the highway in Sitio Sambulawan, Brgy 4, Sipalay, he added.
The road was cleared within an hour and was passable, Bogtae said.
OTHER AREAS HIT
Irene Bel Ploteña, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division head, also said there were 273 evacuees in San Enrique and 233 in Pontevedra
One house was destroyed and one was damaged, she added.
There were also about 100 evacuees from Brgy Ayungon in La Carlota, Mayor Rex Jalandoon said.
Residents also evacuated in Isabela and Valladolid.
HIMAMAYLAN
Himamaylan City Mayor Raymund Tongson convened the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to check on the ongoing roll-out typhoon response in Himamaylan on Friday.
“The LGU through our DRRM Council and the City Social Welfare and Development Office have already prepositioned food packs for disaster-prone areas and barangays,” Tongson said.
The DRRMC has been actively campaigning for Himamaylanons in disaster-prone areas to prepare for evacuation, he added.*