Heavy rains forced evacuation in parts of Bacolod City Friday night

September 23, 2017

More than a thousand persons were displaced due to floods from heavy rain in Bacolod on Friday.

Dondon Parandas, Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) officer-in-charge said a total of 340 families or 1,360 individuals were displaced in at least 20 barangays in the city.

Parandas said people began evacuating from their homes Friday night

He said the local government ordered forced evacuation around 11 pm as flooding in some areas has  reached the roof of homes, especially those near the river.

State weather forecaster Jun Galang said heavy rain experienced in Western Visayas last Friday was due to the effect of the southwest monsoon enhanced by a low pressure area in Bicol.

The low pressure developed into a  tropical depression around 2pm Saturday was last spotted at 280 km west  northwest of Dagupan City, Pangasinan with maximum winds of 45 kph and gusts of up to 60 kph while it moves west northwest at 24 kph.

Parandas said some of the affected families in Bacolod have returned to their houses early Saturday as the weather has improved. Robina Asido/DMS