BALANGA, BATAAN — Thousands of families and individuals were displaced while the city of Balanga and the municipality of Dinalupihan were declared under a state of calamity as a result of massive floods that hit the province yesterday due to non-stop monsoon rains the past week.
As of the latest report from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), around 12,227 families were brought to evacuation centers in the different municipalities of Abucay, Hermosa, Orani, Orion, Morong, Bagac, Pilar, Mariveles, and in the city of Balanga at the height of the flooding last Thursday. Floods rose to as high as five to six feet in Hermosa, Orion and Pilar.
While there were no reported fatalities, incidents of minor landslides were monitored in barangay Tipo, Hermosa and barangay San Pablo in Dinalupihan.
An estimated P86 million worth of crops were damaged in the aftermath of the floods, while several infrastructures including bridges, houses, dikes and irrigation dam were reported damaged due to flooding and landslide in Pilar, Abucay, Balanga and Morong.
Although most of the floodwaters have already subsided and most families returned to their homes this Friday morning, Bataan Governor Albert S. Garcia announced the continued suspension of modular, blended and online classes in all levels while government offices open today.
He asked the local chief executives of each municipality to decide on the suspension of offices in their jurisdictions depending on the gravity of the damage in their areas. He also called on the public to remain vigilant as rains continue to pour intermittently due to the southwest monsoon rains.
All major thoroughfares in Bataan are now completely passable to all types of vehicles and electric power was already restored in the province.