In Bicol, classes suspended as flood swamps parts of region

Bicol Region. INQUIRER FILES

LEGAZPI CITY—Widespread flooding spawned by heavy rainfall due to a shear line has prevented families in low-lying areas in the Bicol region from returning home on Tuesday, prompting the suspension of classes, local officials said.

Uson town in Masbate province, one of the worst hit, required the evacuation of 114 families, (340 people) in the villages of Magsaysay, Barangay Buenavista after the Buracan River at the boundary of the two villages overflowed early Monday, with water rising up to 1 meter, said Cherry Mae Alvaro, the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office head.

“The affected areas are along the pathway of the water that goes downstream from the mountainous area, and the exit way from the river is under construction right now, so it triggered the water to bounce back to the community instead of exiting to the sea,” Alvaro said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

In other Masbate towns, six families (24 people) were evacuated in Dimasalang and three families (11 people) in San Pascual towns, Gremil Alexis Naz, spokesperson for the Office of Civil Defense Bicol, said by phone on Tuesday.

Flooding was also reported in Masbate City and Mobo town, he added.In Sorsogon, widespread flooding was reported in four villages of Bulan town.

Classes at all levels in public and private schools were suspended in Masbate, Camarines Sur, Albay and Catanduanes provinces; and from kindergarten to senior high school in Sorsogon. INQ