Rains trigger floods in 3 Albay towns, submerge rice fields

LEGAZPI CITY –– Moderate to heavy rains spawned floods that hit several low-lying villages in the towns of Jovellar, Polangui, and Libon in Albay province, the Albay safety office said on Saturday.

Affected by flooding were the villages of Balangibang, Ubaliw, Basud, Centro Oriental, Centro Occidental, Sugcad and Kinale in Polangui; part of West Carisac in Libon; Sta. Cruz, and San Isidro in Jovellar, said Cedric Daep, Albay Public Safety, Emergency, and Management Office (APSEMO) chief.

Daep said a 40-millimeter rainfall spawned by the low-pressure area poured between 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturday, causing floods in the three low-lying towns in the third district of the province.

Hundreds of hectares of rice lands in Libon and Polangui were submerged, while floodwater almost overflowed in a major bridge in Jovellar said Daep in a phone interview.

The flood eroded a sandbag river control system that caused water to cascade into the adjoining rice fields in Barangay West Carisac in Libon.

He said ankle to knee-deep floodwater was observed in Libon and Polangui.

At least 45 families in flood-affected villages sought shelter in their relatives’ houses.

Meanwhile, police said the road from Barangay Calzada going to Barangay Quintinday and Barangay Aurora going to White Deer, all in Jovellar, were not passable. /lzb