Heavy rains trigger flash floods in Negros

Manila, Philippines - Ten hours of continuous rains triggered widespread flooding in two key areas of Negros Occidental on Wednesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday.

NDRRMC executive officer and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Benito Ramos said that 10 villages in EB Magalona and Victorias City were submerged by knee to waist-deep floodwaters and directly affected 961 families or 5,764 persons.

“It has been raining heavily for the last 10 hours since Tuesday evening in the area triggering water tributaries to overflow toward low-lying villages,” Ramos said.

Rose Cabrera, OCD director in Western Visayas, meanwhile, reported that before noon the other day the floodwaters have started to recede.

She added that only five families were forced out of their houses at the height of the flashfloods that hit Barangay Tabigue, EB Magalona town to escape the waist-deep rampaging floodwaters from an overflowing creek.

“So far there was no evacuation that happened in all other flood-stricken areas dahil ang level ng water, mababa lang naman. But then different rescue groups are still deployed in the area due to the prevailing weather disturbances,” Cabrera said.