EVACUATION. Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo, with City Social Welfare and Development officer Leah Pilipina Canayon (2nd from right), visits the evacuees at the Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center over the weekend. As of Tuesday (Sept. 17, 2024), 1,820 families displaced by floods in the city have been staying in various evacuation centers. (Photo courtesy of Bago City Information Office)
BACOLOD CITY – At least 27,421 families, or 91,046 persons, in 23 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental have been affected by heavy rains and floods due to southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Ferdie and Tropical Depression, data of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC ) on Tuesday showed.
One fatality in Hinoba-an and one missing in Sipalay City have also been reported.
As of 11 a.m., 3,287 families, or 10,604 individuals, are still staying in evacuation centers, while 654 families, or 2,074 individuals, are with their relatives or in other houses.
Bago City, just south of Bacolod, has the most number of families staying in evacuation centers at 1,820, from 20 barangays.
“We continue to advise the public and coordinate with the local government units to be on alert,” PDRRM officer Irene Bel Ploteña said in an interview.
On Tuesday, 29 out of 31 LGUs in Negros Occidental canceled classes, while four suspended work due to expected heavy rains.
In its report, the PDRRMC said the provincial government is conducting continuous monitoring of increased water level and flooding incidents and coordinates with LGUs regarding the augmentation of prepositioned assets.
Meanwhile, some 903 families, or 2,765 persons, in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, have been preemptively evacuated since last week due to the increased seismic activity of Mt. Kanlaon, based on the PDRRMC data as of Tuesday noon.
The evacuees are residents of barangays at the foot of the active volcano.
Those affected but are staying with relatives and other houses are 3,372 families or 13,049 persons.
Mt. Kanlaon is currently under Alert 2, with increased seismic activity observed since last week, which could result in sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. (PNA)
