The floods that hit six cities and two towns in northern Negros Occidental affected about 76,000 residents, while 62 houses were destroyed and 404 were damaged Friday, January 8, and Saturday, January 9.
Two persons were also killed in Silay and Talisay cities.
The floods brought on by continuous heavy rains flooded homes and rendered many roads impassable for hours.
As of today, January 10, many of the evacuees who were given food assistance by their local governments have returned to their flood-hit houses to begin the arduous task of cleaning up. However, those who lost their houses were still staying in evacuation centers or with relatives.
At 7 a.m. Saturday, Marvito Yap Lumanog was found dead in his flood destroyed house in Barangay Guimbalaon, Silay City, Mayor Mark Golez said.
The body Ulyses Escamilla, a trisikad driver, was found floating in the Minuluan River in Barangay Zone 11, Talisay City, at about 2 p.m. today, January 10, the police said.
Escamilla drowned in a flash flood, an initial police report showed, but further investigation on the cause of his death is underway.
Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares said the victim reportedly was drunk when he crossed the river.
The floods affected 3,233 families (16,456 individuals) in Talisay City, and destroyed 18 houses and damaged 98 others, Talisay Social Welfare Officer Dionela Madrona said.
In Silay City, the flooding affected 9,020 families (28,811 individuals), and destroyed 119 houses and damaged 17, Golez said.
Mayor Marvin Malacon said the floods affected 3,339 families (16,890 individuals) in EB Magalona. They are still in the process of assessing the damage, he said.
In Victorias City, 1,274 families (6,281 individuals) were affected by the floods that destroyed 17 houses and damaged 56, Mayor Francis Palanca said.
Mayor Manuel Escalante said waters started to rise in their canals and creeks but there was no flooding of houses. About 10 families living near the Candelaria River were evacuated as waters started to rise as a precautionary measure, but they returned to their houses soon after since they were not flooded, he said.
There was just slight damage to the Candelaria and Purisima bridges in Manapla, the mayor said.
In Cadiz City, floods affected 162 families (712 individuals) and damaged two houses, Mayor Salvador Escalante said.
In Sagay City, 1,551 families were affected by the floods and 89 evacuated, while two houses were damaged, Mayor Alfredo Maranon III said.
The average number of individuals affected by the floods in Sagay was placed at about 7,755.
The floods affected 15 families (63 individuals) in Escalante City and destroyed two houses.
The third district of Negros Occidental was hit by floods on January 1 and residents had barely finished cleaning up their houses when the waters rose again on Friday, January 8.
The floods that hit Friday and Saturday were worst than those on January 1, they hit a wider areas and the water was deeper, Victorias Mayor Francis Palanca said.*