FLOODED. Several portions of Batad in northern Iloilo experience flooding due heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Dante. Report reaching the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said four fishermen were allegedly missing, 895 persons were evacuated, and 600 stranded due to “Dante”. (PNA photo courtesy of Batad MDRRMO)
ILOILO CITY – Four fishermen are missing, 895 persons are staying in various evacuation centers while 600 others were stranded in different ports in Western Visayas as Tropical Storm Dante affected some parts of the region.
Initial reports reaching the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) here said the fishermen from the municipality of Pilar in Capiz were allegedly missing after their pump boat capsized.
It said 82 individuals from Capiz, 86 from Negros Occidental, and 727 from towns of Balasan and Batad in Iloilo have moved to identified evacuation centers in their respective localities.
“We have flooding in Capiz and Dumarao as well as in northern Iloilo in Balasan, Batad, Estancia, and Carles,” Civil Defense information officer and RDRRMC spokesperson Cindy Ferrer said in an interview.
Ferrer said some of the flooding has reached knee-deep while it has already subsided in other areas.
Flooding has affected rice fields and roads in President Roxas and Dumarao in Capiz, and rendered some areas not passable to light vehicles.
The Coast Guard Station in Iloilo allowed sea vessels plying from Iloilo to Negros Occidental, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and vice versa in its 11.a.m. advisory, but those bound to Manila, Batangas and Palawan are still cancelled.
“Resumption of trips will depend on the next weather bulletin to be issued by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration),” the advisory released past 11 a.m. said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard continues to advise fishermen not to venture out to the sea.
In its 2 p.m. bulletin, PAGASA placed Aklan and the northern portion of Antique under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1. (PNA)
