New Year’s Day floods, slides hit Negros, Bicol

Parts of western Visayas and southern Luzon greeted the New Year flooded by heavy rains and flooding that forced more than 17,000 people to flee their homes in Negros Occidental province, authorities said Friday.

The Regional Civil Defense Office (OCD) in Bicol reported that many communities in 23 towns and one city in Sorsogon, Camarines Sur and Albay provinces were affected by floods and landslides. A man died after being electrocuted in a flooded street in the city of Baco, Oriental Mindoro province.

In Victorias City in Negros Occidental, the Guzmán family spent the first hours of 2021 on the roof of their home where they were forced to flee by a flash flood that flooded the Canetown subdivision in Barangay 19-A. Abraham Guzmán said that 30 minutes before midnight Thursday, a torrent of water suddenly filled the streets and not long after it was up to the neck.

Unexpected

He said he, his girlfriend and his parents decided to abandon their New Years celebrations and climbed onto the roof due to the rapidly increasing flooding, leaving their “midnight” party floating in the muddy water.

The flood receded at 10 a.m. Friday.

“It was unexpected. We couldn’t believe this tragedy happened during the New Year. We are still dealing with the effects of COVID-19 and this happened, ”Abraham told the Inquirer, adding that everyone was surprised as they only experienced a brief light rain.

They later learned that the heavy rains that fell on the surrounding mountains had grown a nearby river, but they were all unaware due to the New Years spree, according to Lunalie Dawn Desusa.

“Usually there is a warning signal from the siren from the nearby mill, but this time there was none. We were surprised that the water ran around midnight, ”added Desusa.

Residents of the Canetown subdivision will spend the first days of 2021 cleaning up the mud cakes left in their homes and neighborhoods.

Zephard Caelian, head of the provincial disaster management program, said Thursday’s heavy rains and high tide caused the flooding of Victorias, the cities of Talisay and Silay and the city of EB Magalona.

Other Victorias residents sent text messages calling for help from their rooftops when the water level rose, he said.

“We had a fireworks display to usher in the New Year in the town square. And here comes the flood that surprised everyone after midnight, ”said Victorias Mayor Francis Palanca.

“It was raining inside for days. The ground has become soggy, so we were hit by runoff, ”he added. An initial report showed that 413 families, or 1,508 people, had been evacuated in Victorias.

In Silay, the floods affected 133 families, or 403 people, in Barangays I, II, V, Hawaiian, E. Lopez, Guinhalaran, Lantad, Mambulac and Rizal.

Up to 3,467 families were affected in the Talisay villages of Bubog, Zones 1, 2, 3, 10, 16 and 12. In EB Magalona, ​​flash floods affected 307 households in Barangays Tanza, San José, Sto. Niño, Consing, Latasan and San Isidro.

The tail of the frontal system

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said on Friday there was no storm over these areas in the Visayas and the Bicol region.

He said the prevailing end of a frontal system, or the clash of cold air from the northeast monsoon and warm air brought in by easterly winds, brought the rains that would continue over parts of Luzon on Saturday.

In Negros Occidental, many families from Bicol also got drenched as the clock struck 2021, celebrating the New Year at evacuation centers.

Kate Danielle Baylon, 22, whose home was submerged in water up to her ankles in the town of Nabua, Camarines Sur, said her neighborhood in the town of San Esteban was used to flooding during heavy rains, but no one expected flooding on new Year’s Day.

“My childhood New Year celebrations weren’t like this,” he told the Inquirer. “They were mostly holidays and there were fireworks displays that the kids look forward to.”

At 3pm on Friday, the Nabua municipal disaster management office warned the public that water from the Buhi Dam would cause more flooding on Saturday.

The rains caused tributaries of the Bicol river to overflow into spillways, roads and submerged some villages in Sorsogon, Camarines Sur and Albay provinces, authorities said.

The floods in Sorsogon were caused by rising rivers in the cities of Juban, Bulusan and Gubat.

The landslides blocked at least seven roads in Sorsogon. Eleven landslides were reported in nine villages in the three cities and in the town of Sorsogon.

Some 30 families in the town of Sagñay in Camarines Sur were evacuated on New Year’s Eve due to heavy rains, which began on Tuesday, according to Gremil Alexis Naz, a spokesman for OCD Bicol.

The rains caused flooding and landslides in at least six other towns in Camarines Sur.

Landslides were also reported in some villages in the cities of Libmanan, Ginorangan and Lagonoy, all in Camarines Sur, according to the provincial disaster management office.

Flight cancellations

In the city of Legazpi, the capital of Albay, the rain submerged the Vel Amor subdivision under about 60 centimeters of water.

Bad weather also forced the cancellation of two flights from Manila to Naga Airport in Pili, Camarines Sur, on Thursday.

Heavy rains on New Year’s Eve also flooded parts of the eastern Mindoro province, including the city of Bacchus.

Ian Pastrana, the man who was electrocuted Thursday night while walking down a flooded street in Baco, died on his way to a hospital, according to Deputy Mayor Eric Castillo.

The Bicol region and Quezon and Palawan provinces will continue to experience light to moderate and heavy rains on Saturday due to the extreme of a frontal system, the weather agency said.

—Reports from Carla Gomez, Ana Roa, Rey Anthony Ostria, Mar Arguelles, Madonna Virola and Nikka Valenzuela

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