PDRRMC KEEPS TIGHT WATCH OVER HIGHLY VULNERABLE AREAS IN SORSOGON

SORSOGON PROVINCE (January 18) – The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) is still in Code Yellow Alpha alert and is closely monitoring areas in the province that are extremely susceptible to landslide and flooding everytime continuous rains occur.

Code Yellow Alpha  alert means that the PDRRMC is in alert stand-by mode.

”For more than three weeks now, downpour of rains here continue causing high rise of water not only in low-lying and coastal areas but also in elevated places along riverbanks,” said PDRRMC action officer Manro Jayco.

He said that some evacuation centers are now also affected by flooding, however they have already advised the Municipal DRRMCs to identify other evacuation sites and that unsafe evacuation centers must not anymore be used since it will just pose more danger to evacuees.

Among the areas highly monitored by the PDRRMC for flooding are the towns of Juban, Bulan, Casiguran, Gubat, Pto. Diaz, Barcelona, Castilla, Pilar, Donsol and Sorsogon City.

PAGASA-DOST Legazpi weather forecaster Darwin Diquitin warned people of Sorsogon that rains will continue until next week due to prevailing Northest Monsoon and that tail-end of a cold front remains to affect the province.

On water courses in Sorsogon, likely to be affected as identified by PAGASA, are the Cadac-an, Banuan-duan, Fabrica and Matnog rivers.

”Sorsoganon should also expect colder weather in the next days due to Syberian wind,” Diquitin said.

Meanwhile, minor landslides were also noted in areas of Juban and Magallanes towns and in Sorsogon City during the past days. However, no major damage was recorded.

It can be recalled that Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment And Natural Resources (DENR) Bicol has identified the towns of Bulan, Irosin, Juban, Magallanes, Matnog, Sta. Magdalena and Sorsogon City as areas in Sorsogon that are high-risk to landslides.

These areas have past histories of landslides with Magallanes town to have recorded a enormous damage claiming 18 lives and 210 families displaced due to debris slump occurence at the height of typhoon Dante in 2009. (Bennie A. Recebido, PIA Sorsogon)