BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — Eleven municipalities in Capiz were placed under a state of calamity after they were hit by flash floods during the onslaught of tropical depression “Quinta.”
They were Cuartero, Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, Maayon, Mambusao, Panay, Panitan, Pontevedra, Sigma and Tapaz.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved a resolution on the declaration during its special session late Friday afternoon.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) on Thursday approved a resolution recommending to the SP to make the declaration.
As of press time yesterday, the number of families affected by floods reached 14,577 (54,962 individuals), the PDRRMC said.
Some 15,487 hectares of rice fields and 386 hectares of corn plantations were destroyed, it added.
The Metro Roxas Water District resumed its operations early yesterday morning.
It earlier stopped providing water to households in Roxas City and Panay, Panitan and Ivisan towns amid the flooding that started on Wednesday.
The water district said it cannot treat the water from its source, the Panay River, which had been contaminated with silt.
Flood caused by heavy rains brought by “Quinta” reached the Panay River, bringing with it soil from mountainous areas in the 2nd District.
Pushing through with the treatment could damage the water treatment plant facilities, Engr. Glen Delgado, the water district’s general manager, explained earlier.
Two residents of Dumalag died of drowning — Franklin Fadriga, 34, and Christian Olivar, 15, both of Brgy. Sto. Angel.
Jhonary Derecho, a resident of Brgy. Alabidhan, Bingawan, Iloilo, also died in Capiz, the PDRRMC said.
He drowned after a strong floodwater current swept him and his friend while they were traversing a flooded road in Brgy. Switch, Tapaz onboard a motorcycle. His friend survived.
