BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Parts of Negros Occidental experienced flooding and landslides between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning due to torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm “Jolina.”
In San Carlos City, Mayor Renato Gustilo confirmed that a landslide made one lane of the national highway in Barangay Rizal impassable.
He ordered a clearing operation.
Meanwhile, La Castellana’s Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan posted a live video on social media showing zero visibility in her town during a heavy downpour.
Fallen trees, rocks and other debris also blocked a major road but the local police were able to remove the obstructions.
The town’s Barangay Robles was also inundated with at least four houses reported to have been either destroyed or damaged.
Affected residents were able to evacuate in time but their livestock – such as chickens and pigs – were swept away by raging floodwaters.
Mangilimutan directed the town’s social welfare office to provide assistance to the displaced.
In Sipalay City, a road in Barangay Mambaroto got flooded yesterday morning.
STRANDED PASSENGERS
On the other hand, over 100 Cebu-bound passengers in the northern part of Negros Occidental got stranded.
Captain Ludovico Librilla, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Western Visayas deputy commander and Negros Occidental station commander, said trips from the cities of Escalante and Sagay bound for the towns of Tuburan and Tabuelan in Cebu were halted around 6 a.m. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) placed the northern part of Cebu province under Storm Signal No. 1.
By around 11 a.m. Pagasa placed the northern part of Negros Occidental under Storm Signal No.1 as “Jolina” made a landfall in Masbate.
The PCG station in Barangay Banago here, meanwhile, reported one stranded roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel with seven drivers and helpers at the Sagay City Port; several Tabuelan-bound passengers were unable to leave.
In Escalante City, three RoRo vessels at the Danao and Barcelona ports also bound for Tabuelan or Tuburan were barred from leaving.
At least 97 passengers, most of whom were drivers and helpers with their rolling cargoes, were stranded.
Even though Batangas and Metro Manila were later placed on Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TCWS) by Pagasa, the PCG said there were no stranded passengers at the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City.
Trips between Bacolod, Iloilo City and the town of Dumangas continued normally throughout the day.
As of press time, Pagasa has yet to lift the TCWS in the northern part of Negros Occidental and Cebu, although Librilla had already stated that trips will be allowed to resume as soon as the storm signals are lifted in the affected areas./PN
