Flooding leaves 2 dead, 5 missing in Negros Oriental

A FISHING boat lies on its side after it was battered by strong waves brought about by the southwest monsoon that hit Bayawan City and neighboring areas in Negros Oriental on Sunday. MICHAEL OCAMPO/CONTRIBUTOR

DUMAGUETE CITY—Two persons were confirmed dead and five others were missing as thousands of families were affected by the flooding caused by heavy rain in some parts of the Negros island.

The bodies of a police officer, Police Officer 1 Rodilyn Gonzaga, and a still-unidentified octogenarian were recovered on Monday morning.

Gonzaga’s body was found along the shoreline of Barangay (village) Caranoche in Bayawan City. The lawman was swept away by a strong current during rescue operations in Barangay Villareal.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, on its website, reported that 1,139 families, or 5,693 people, in Bayawan, Siaton, Basay and this city were affected by flooding.

Bayawan still had no power on Monday as it started picking up the pieces wrought by the worst flooding in its history. However, floodwaters have already subsided, enabling thousands to return to their homes.

Rescue operations have been called off and efforts were shifted to relief and recovery.

Bayawan, a grand slam winner in the Gawad Kalasag Awards for its disaster management program, was practically at a loss in addressing the flooding, which isolated the city from the rest of Negros Oriental.

Mayor German Sarana Jr., in a meeting with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said priority would be given to helping the people.

Strong rain had also threatened to inundate Dumaguete, as well as the towns of Sibulan and Siaton, but the dikes and other river control measures prevented raging rivers in these areas from causing damage.

From Thursday afternoon to Sunday, rains also triggered flooding in southern Negros Occidental, affecting 9,157 families, or 50,089 people, in three cities and five towns, and damaging rice fields, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division reported on Monday.

Affected were 5,634 families in Ilog, 1,852 families in San Enrique, 986 families in Hinoba-an, 293 families in Hinigaran, 147 families in Kabankalan City, 137 families in Sipalay City, 100 families in Isabela and eight families in Himamaylan City.

Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (sixth district) said the Ilog municipal council was set to declare the town under a state of calamity.

Flooding also damaged rice fields in five towns and one city valued at around P5.337 million. It affected 175 hectares of palay in the towns of Ilog, Candoni, Hinigaran, Moises Padilla, Cauayan and Kabankalan, provincial agriculturist Igmedio Tabianan said.

Landslides were reported in Don Salvador Benedicto and La Castellana towns.