Flood-hit towns, city in Palawan, Negros Occ. under calamity state

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The municipalities of Dumaran, Roxas, and San Vicente in Palawan have placed themselves in a state of calamity due to widespread destruction to properties, agriculture and government infrastructure spawned by floods caused by the prolonged rains.

According to the officials of the three towns, the declarations were made based on the recommendations from their respective Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils, with the three localities having sustained close to P78 million in damages.

The calamity declarations in Palawan came just after the towns of Hinigaran, and San Enrique and La Carlota City in Negros Occidental also placed their respective localities under a state of calamity due to damages wrought by heavy rains and flooding from Sept. 13 to Sept. 17.

READ: Deaths due to cyclones rise to 23; over 1M people in 13 regions affected

Latest reports in Negros Occidental showed that the damage to the province’s agriculture and properties has reached P104 million.

In a statement on Thursday, the Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said the recent calamity has caused significant agricultural losses in the three towns.

Data showed the three towns recorded P77,797,897 in damages. Roxas reported an estimated P42.540 million in damages; San Vicente, P17,808,900; Dumaran incurred P17,448,947 in losses.

San Vicente Vice Mayor Ramir Pablico, the municipal council’s presiding officer, said during Thursday’s session that there was a need for the declaration, as majority of the town’s barangays were flooded due to the prolonged rains.

The declaration would allow the town to urgently access its P5 million quick response fund (QRF) to provide immediate assistance to the affected residents.

In addition to the QRF, the San Vicente local government has approved a P10,588,495 supplemental budget to purchase relief goods to be distributed to the displaced families.

Displaced, death toll

The latest report from the PDRRMO indicated that 3,537 families, or 13,407 individuals, remained in evacuation centers across Palawan as of Thursday.

Authorities said the floods caused by the rains dumped by the southwest monsoon and enhanced by Tropical Storm Ferdie (international name: Bebinca) and Tropical Depression Gener have also claimed eight lives in three towns—four from Rizal, three from Balabac and one from Roxas.

Negros Occidental’s losses

In Negros Occidental, which also suffered widespread flooding due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storms “Ferdie” and “Helen” and Tropical Depression “Gener,” damage to agriculture and properties has initially reached P104 million.

The province’s damage assessment continued even as most of the families who fled due to strong rains and winds have returned home.

Irene Bel Ploteña, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division, said the bad weather affected 200,782 residents in 25 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, and caused the death of two from drowning.

As of Sept. 19, there were still 2,987 families, composed of 12,571 members, still in evacuation centers in Negros Occidental.

Ploteña said the P104 million losses were damages to crops, fisheries and livestock in the province.

Damage to crops was pegged at P101,737,398, while fisheries and livestock sectors lost P1,781,361 and P1,421,309 respectively.

At least 34 houses were also destroyed while 426 were damaged, Ploteña said.

In the entire Western Visayas, at least five people drowned due to heavy rains and floods spawned by the southwest monsoon from Sept. 13 to Sept. 17.

Maria Christina Illustre-Mayor, information officer of the Office of the Civil Defense in the region, said the fatalities came from the provinces of Antique, Negros Occidental, Bacolod, Iloilo and Guimaras.