Heavy rains caused rivers to overflow in Negros Oriental

Spillways in Dumaguete City and Valencia in Negros Oriental were rendered impassable on Saturday after heavy rains inundated several areas due to overflowing rivers. (Photo: Eugene Alvin Villar / Wikipedia)

DUMAGUETE CITY– Spillways in Dumaguete City and Valencia in Negros Oriental were rendered impassable on Saturday after heavy rains inundated several areas due to overflowing rivers.

Sr. Insp. Alfonso Enriquez, police chief of Valencia, disclosed Sunday that the spillway leading to the Tejero Highlands Resort in that town was sealed off Saturday afternoon after heavy rains caused the Okoy River overflow around 3:55 p.m.

The spillway was rendered impassable for about half an hour until it became passable around 4:20 p.m.

The flooding left debris and piles of dirt that had to be cleared afterwards.

In Dumaguete City, the Banica River also overflowed, rendering spillways in Bagacay, Candauay and at Colon Extension impassable.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) headed by Engr. Jose Chu mobilized and deployed Rescue 348 to ensure the safety of the people during the flooding.

Traffic piled up in the capital as people had to take different routes after these spillways were sealed off to the public.

No injury was reported during the flashfloods even as authorities keep reminding the public to heed constant public advisories and warnings from the government’s weather station, PAG-ASA.

The Energy Development Corporation’s Negros Island Geothermal Business Unit (NIGBU) in Valencia reported an unusually heavy rainfall based on reading from different rain gauges at their geothermal power plants in Palinpinon town.