Elderly man drowns, 60 families flee from floods in Antique, Iloilo City

FLOOD (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

ILOILO CITY — An elderly man drowned in Janiuay town in Iloilo and several 60 families were evacuated in Antique and Iloilo City due days of heavy rains and strong winds.

Benedicto Brasileno, 68, drowned at the Malbug River in Janiuay town early Wednesday, according to reports reaching the Office of Civil Defense Western Visayas office in Iloilo City.

Brasileno was on his way home and was crossing the river in Barangay Canawillian when he was carried by the strong current.

Classes were suspended in Iloilo City and 12 towns in Iloilo on Thursday due to the heavy rains and strong winds.

Iloilo City Major Jed Patrick Mabilog also ordered the suspension of classes in all levels in the city.

Classes were also suspended in the towns of Leon, Pavia, Sta. Barbara, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, San Miguel, Dumangas, Pototan, Banate, Miag-ao, Leganes and Tigbauan, said Rosario Cabrera, OCD Western Visayas director.

In Guimaras, classes were suspended at the Avila Elementary School in Buenavista town and Morobuan Elementary School in Jordan town.

The OCD also reported that four families (one family in Simbalom town and three in San Remigio town) were evacuated on Wednesday but returned to their homes on Thursday.

Fifty-nine households were also briefly evacuated in Iloilo City on Wednesday due to flooding.

In Alimodian town in Iloilo, a house was damaged due to a landslide in Barangay Poblacion, according to Jerry Bionat, executive officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. SFM