PNoy to visit Negros Oriental today

DUMAGUETE CITY — President Benigno Aquino III is expected to visit Negros Oriental today and inspect areas that were badly hit by typhoon Sendong.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s latest report said that Sendong left behind 37 people dead, 15 others still missing and thousands more homeless. Casualties included those carried away by flashfloods or drowned as police authorities said the number could still rise with many reports of missing persons.

The PDRRMC, however, was still collating data from different towns and cities that have been devastated even if Dumaguete City and Valencia town have been declared under state of calamity by their respective local governments.

City government of Dumaguete immediately called for a special session to declare Dumaguete City under a state of calamity.

On Saturday afternoon, the City Council approved the release of P12 million calamity fund, which was 30 percent of the city’s quick response fund of the 2011 budget, to be used for assisting the victims, said Randy Saldua, coordinator of the City Risk Reduction Management Council.

As of 1p.m. yesterday, a CRRMC report said that an estimated 3,011 households were displaced by the typhoon, totally damaged 219 houses, partially damaged 1213 houses, injured 142 and four person confirmed dead with 19 evacuation centers.

Many of those affected have lost their houses and personal belongings to unprecedented flooding and are now staying at 19 evacuation centers set up in various barangays around the city. The city government has been working round the clock to provide assistance to the affected families.

Barangay Candau-ay has the most number of affected households with 350, followed by Barangay 8 with 311. In Barangay 2, some of the affected families have stayed along the road while in Barangay Balugo, they sought shelter in tents set up for them.

Some roads in the city got inundated due to heavy rain and overflowing of the Banica River. Some houses of light materials were also carried downstream by flashfloods. The bridge was temporarily sealed off to traffic as its footing reportedly became unstable.

In Valencia town, Councilor Arnil Bantug told The FREEMAN that last Saturday the Municipal Council and Mayor Ricky Gonzales declared the town under state of calamity, but the release of the calamity fund was only approved during a special session yesterday afternoon.

Spillways in this town have overflowed rendering them impassable to any kind of vehicle. Two geothermal power plants of Energy Development Corporation here were shut down due to landslides, resulting in 12-hour brownout in most parts of the province.

In Tanjay City, a bridge was destroyed by flashflood, while another one in Amlan town got impassable due to the overflowing river. These destructions affected direly the transportation in the northern part of the province.

Governor Roel Degamo conducted an aerial assessment of the damage of Sendong, while DSWD-7 director Evelyn Macapobre, led in the distribution of relief goods to the victims. Calls for help continued to come via the Capitol, City Hall, and even radio stations.

Meanwhile, Saldua of the CRRMC, said so far there was no sign of an oil leak from the M/V Ever Transport 3, a cargo ship from Bohol that ran aground on the shore of Calindagan in Dumaguete due to the typhoon. The Coast Guard however has continued monitoring the situation.