Flooding in two cities in Negros Occidental caused 316 families to evacuate, while 733 public schools with 348,156 learners suspended classes due to heavy rains brought on by Tropical Storm Kristine on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Bacolod City, Victorias City, Calatrava, EB Magalona, Cauayan, Isabela, Cadiz City and Binalbagan are also suspending face-to-face classes on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
The suspension of face-to-face classes from pre-elementary to senior high school in both public and private institutions in Bacolod City is extended, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced Tuesday evening.
Flooding affected 45 families with 157 persons in three barangays in Bago City and 268 families in Cadiz City on Tuesday, Irene Bel Ploteña, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, said.
Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante said residents returned home when the water subsided.
One house was destroyed and one was damaged, Ploteña said.
The Department of Education said 2,253 public schools in Western Visayas shifted to alternative delivery mode (ADM) on Tuesday following the suspension of face-to-face classes by their respective local government units.
In Negros Occidental 17 LGUs suspended classes affecting 733 schools with 348,156 learners.
The following Schools Division Offices (SDO) with schools that suspended classes in Negros Occidental are:
· SDO Cadiz City – 81 schools (41,697 learners);
· SDO Escalante City – 48 (26,287 learners);
· SDO Negros Occidental – 293 (154,653 learners);
· SDO Bacolod City – 70 (112,321 learners);
· SDO Silay City – 39 (32,295 learners);
· SDO Kabankalan City – 119 (56,474 learners);
· SDO San Carlos City – 27 (9,230 learners); and
· SDO Himamaylan City – 56 (27,520 learners).*