ILOILO CITY — Classes at all levels both in public and private schools are suspended on Wednesday due to the flooding caused by heavy rains brought about by Tropical Depression “Agaton”.
Capiz Governor Tony del Rosario announced the suspension Tuesday afternoon, said Esperidion Pelaes of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO).
Pelaes said that 117 out of the 473 barangays of the province were affected by the flooding. However, as of this afternoon floods have already subsided in six barangays.
These barangays are situated in municipalities of Maayon, Sigma, Cuartero, Mambusao, Dumalag, Dao,Panit-an, Pontevedra, Dumarao, Panay and Tapaz.
The flooding resulted to the evacuation of 152 families now staying in designated evacuation centers of the affected municipalities.
Sigma and Mambusao are catch basins hence they are prone to flooding when heavy rain occurs, said the PDRRM officer.
Pelaes said that as of this posting, water level continues to rise so they expect that more barangays would get affected.
He added that composite responding teams from the Capiz Emergency Response Team , 61st Infantry of the 3rd Infantry Division Philippine Army, Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection are stationed in Sigma and Pontevedra to augment in the second and first district municipalities, respectively. The same team is also on standby at the PDRRMO operation center.
He said the national road going to Aklan from Sigma to Mambusao is impassable and vehicles have to divert to Ivisan to Sipian roads.
National highways from Roxas to Iloilo and Roxas to Balasan and Estancia are still passable.
Since, Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard already cancelled boat trips from Roxas to Masbate while small fishing boats were not allowed to venture into the sea due to strong winds on coastal areas.
Jose Roberto Nuñez, chairman of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council 6 (RDRRMC-6), in an interview said the municipal social welfare office of the affected towns are taking care of the needs of the evacuees.
He also said that the rice fields of the 87 barangays in the towns of Maayon, Sigma, Cuatero, Mambusao, Dumalag, Dao, Panitan, Pontevedra, Dumarao and Pan-ay are still underwater. (With reports from Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
