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[av_heading heading=’ HEAVY RAINS POUND ILOILO Over a hundred families displaced ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA and RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Wednesday. September 13, 2017
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ILOILO City – Heavy rains have been pounding this city since Saturday, resulting to the displacement of over a hundred families fleeing rising floodwaters.
Schools cancelled classes yesterday and even the city government allowed its employees to go home by 3 p.m.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) ordered a mandatory evacuation of families in flooded areas.
Around 6 p.m., the city government’s 24-hour operations center monitoring the situation across the metro reported 157 families or 492 persons displaced from 11 barangays. This was higher than the 5 p.m. data from the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) that counted 91 displaced families (298 individuals).
Because of the incessant rains, the number of evacuees had been rising since early afternoon. CDRRMO reported as of 3:05 p.m. that there were 42 displaced families in Barangay Calubihan; seven families in Barangay Tagbak; one family in Barangay Desamparados; and five families in Barangay Cuartero, all in the district of Jaro.
Panay News learned, too, that 23 families (107 individuals, including children) were displaced in Barangay Navais, Mandurriao district. They sought shelter at the barangay hall.
City Administrator Hernando Galvez said Barangay Navais is a “catch basin” and a low-lying area.
The flood warning device in Barangay Calubihan, Jaro, meantime, reached alarm level 2.
Western Visayas was not under any storm signal but tropical depression “Maring” in Luzon was enhancing the southwest monsoon. City hall activated a 24-hour operation center to monitor the situation across the city.
The displaced families moved to their respective village gymnasiums and barangay halls.
Forty-one barangays have higher risks of flooding, according to the CDRRMO.
A Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis team was mobilized, too, to determine if the situation would warrant a declaration of a state of calamity.
In the 5 p.m. data of the ICPO, Jaro had the most numbers of affected families at 64 (154 individuals), followed by Molo district (19 families / 108 individuals), Mandurriao (six families / 18 individuals) and Arevalo (two families / 18 individuals).
The number could still rise if the rain continued, according to the ICPO.
It did not have figures on displaced families in the City Proper.
Galvez yesterday conducted an ocular inspection with the CDRRMO upon instruction of Acting Mayor Jose Espinosa III. Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog has yet to return after attending two international conferences on disaster management and sustainable urban development in Yokohama, Japan and Melaka, Malaysia, respectively.
Around noon yesterday the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) started distributing food packs and relief goods to affected families.
Philippine Red Cross – Iloilo Chapter’s mobile kitchen provided arroz caldo to the evacuees.
“We have prepositioned relief goods in evacuation centers in coordination with Red Cross,” said Espinosa.
At an emergency meeting, he also ordered city government vehicles to transport stranded commuters.
The ICPO made available its vehicles, too.
“Our trucks and patrol cars are ready should there be rescue operations,” said Senior Inspector Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson.
The Bureau of Fire Protection, Iloilo City Police Office, City Engineer’s Office, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Philippine Coast Guard, on the other hand, cleared drainages to allow the smooth flow of rainwater.
To prevent fires, Espinosa instructed the city’s fire bureau and Task Force Boltahe under the City Engineer’s Office to monitor possible short circuits./PN
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