Heavy flooding wreaks havoc on Batangas town

BATANGAS CITY—The municipal council of Bauan in Batangas declared a state of calamity to immediately address the needs of residents in eight villages swamped by floodwaters on June 9.

Municipal administrator Antonio de Lacy Jr. said by phone on Sunday that Friday’s declaration would enable the local government to release between P800,000 and P900,000 of its calamity fund to help the villagers. Although no one was reported injured, damage to infrastructure as a result of the floods was placed at P20 million.

But he said the municipality would still need financial help from the provincial and national governments.

The flood, which went as high as 6 feet in some parts of the town, was brought by two days of heavy rain spawned by a low-pressure area that later developed into tropical Storm “Dodong.”

It swept eight of the 40 barangays—Aplaya, New Danglayan, San Roque, San Pedro, Poblacion 2, Santo Domingo, San Andres I and San Andres proper.

The flood also damaged seawalls, a bridge and many of the road networks, Lacy said.