Residents of riverside communities in Dumaguete City and Sibulan scrambled to a flood alert last Friday after the Banica and Ocoy Rivers threatened to overflow their banks once more due to heavy monsoon rains.
Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria placed the City Disaster Risk Reduction Council on Red Alert Friday afternoon as the waters from the Banica river rose by several feet and started flowing above the spillover in barangay Taclobo.
“It sparked images of Tropical Storm Sendong all over again,” said a barangay Batinguel resident, who was one of several people who packed their bags in preparation for evacuation.
The rains, however, stopped and the flood receded towards early evening.
In its Facebook page, the Dumaguete Information Office said that as of 9 p.m. Friday, the alert status had changed from Red to Blue but the members of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council remained on call for any weather change.
Rains from what the Pag-asa said was the Diffused Tail End of a Cold Front had been felt in Negros Oriental and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao for the past weeks, even as flood victims continue to pick up the pieces from the devastation wrought by the December 17 flood, which was the worst flood to ever hit Dumaguete and its environs.
Relief assistance continues to arrive for the flood victims from here and abroad through several government and non-government agencies.
One of the latest donors was the Province of Cebu. Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia personally handed checks over to the City of Dumaguete, the municipalities of Sibulan and other affected local government units last January 10.
Governor Roel Degamo also announced that families who were displaced by Typhoon Sendong in Negros Oriental can expect more financial aid from the provincial government.
Degamo said the provincial government is set to extend P5,000 to families whose houses were totally damaged by the typhoon and P2,500 for those with partially damaged houses.
The provincial government has set aside a total of P13 million from its Quick Response Fund (QRF) as monetary aid for the storm victims.
The governor announced this during the distribution of the P10,000 financial assistance from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) for each of the families of the victims who died due to the storm that struck Negros Oriental on Dec. 17, 2011.
A total of 38 beneficiaries received the cash assistance from NDRRMC, said Capitol Information Officer Adrian Sedillo.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Sec. Dinky Soliman also announced earlier that DSWD will provide P70,000 as core shelter assistance for families whose houses were totally damaged by the floods.
Families whose homes were partially damaged will receive an average of P5,000 as emergency shelter assistance.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) here, in a report dated Dec. 23, 2011, puts the number of families affected by the storm at 12,260.
A total of 4,345 houses damaged by the typhoon.