BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines — At least 4,196 families were affected on Wednesday by floods triggered by incessant rains and high tide in E. B. Magallona town and Victorias City in Negros Occidental.
At least 3,105 families or 18,630 individuals were affected by floods in seven barangay (villages) in E.B. Magallona town, said town Mayor David Lacson.
The floods also affected 1,091 families in two of the five villages in Victorias City, a partial report received by Provincial Social Welfare Office showed. The five villages flooded were Barangay 9, 6, 7, 13 and Canetown.
Initial report received by Provincial Social Welfare Officer Liane Gracia showed that the floods affected 468 families in Barangay 6 and 623 families in Barangay 13. The other villages are still in the process of counting the number of displaced families.
Local authorities said that the affected families did not have to be evacuated from their communities as floods were receding in most of the areas.
The floods in E.B. Magallona and Victorias were triggered by 15 hours of rain brought by the inter-tropical convergence zone that started at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
But at 11:20 a.m. on Wednesday, the tide was at 1.6 meters, triggering floods in seven villages in E.B. Magallona and five villages in Victorias.
Badly hit in E.B. Magallona was Barangay Tabigue, displacing 682 families or 4,092 persons.
Also affected were Barangay 2 (358 families or 2,148 persons), Barangay Santo Niño (391 families or 2,346 persons), Damgo (536 families or 3,216 persons), Barangay Latasan (88 families or 528 persons), Barangay Alicante (633 families or 3,798 persons) and Barangay 3 (417 families or 2,502 persons).
The EB Magalona municipal government purchased 100 sacks of rice, 75 boxes of sardines and 75 boxes of noodles for the affected families.
Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez of Negros Occidental's 3rd district provided 50 bags of rice for the flood victims, he said.
