ILOILO CITY -- Four towns and a component city in Iloilo province have been declared in a state of calamity due to the massive flood left by tropical storm ‘Agaton.’
The local governments of Ajuy, Concepcion, San Enrique, and Sara towns as well as the component city of Passi have been formally declared in a state of calamity on resolutions adopted by their respective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMCs), municipal and city councils.
The state of calamity declarations are meant to expedite releasing of funds for post-disaster responses of the five local governments.
No storm signal had ever been raised in any part of Iloilo province, but the declaration of the four towns under state of calamity became necessary owing to the enormous flood spawned by Agaton’s intermittent rains on April 11 and 12.
Of the five declared in a state of calamity, the town of Sara has the most number of displaced with 17,525 persons, followed by the town of Ajuy that has at least 17,335 of its residents displaced by the flood.
At least 7,481 of Passi City residents were displaced, 5,896 persons in San Enrique town and 1,761 persons in Concepcion were also affected by the flood.
Meanwhile, more towns are expected to declare a state of calamity.
As of April 13, almost 393,000 persons were affected by Agaton in the entire Iloilo province.