Heavy rainfall forces PCG to cancel all sea trips
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Parts of Bacolod City were flooded over the weekend following nonstop rains caused by an enhanced southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” as a result of Tropical Depression Hanna.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Hanna was last spotted 1,070 kilometers east of Infanta, Quezon with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts up to 70 kph.
PAGASA reports the storm is moving north northwest at 15 kph and is not expected to make landfall in the Philippines; however, the weather bureau warned the storm still poses a threat.
Lacson Street, Palanca Drive at the Bredco Port, portions of Araneta Street in the vicinity of Barangay Sum-ag, Barangays Pahanocoy and Banago, and the Mambulok area were immediately flooded, although it quickly subsided minutes after the rains died down.
Heavy rain and winds also uprooted trees, including one along Roxas Avenue, which was temporarily impassable after a mango tree fell and blocked the road.
Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) officer-in-charge Dondon Parandas said they immediately went on alert due to the weather disturbance.
Parandas insisted recent clearing operations helped but acknowledged flooding is still expected as small drainage systems in some areas are not meant to handle heavy rainfall.
The CDRRMO official added, planned cleaning operations for the city’s rivers and creeks, as well as dredging, could further help in control local flooding.
Meanwhile, in response to the city’s heavy rains and the sea mishap that took place over the weekend in the Iloilo Strait, Philippine Coast Guard-Bacolod Station commander, Lieutenant Rockcliff Buling, immediately ordered a halt on all sea trips.
Buling said they made the decision to avoid the possibility of similar incidents.
All trips resumed yesterday morning after weather conditions improved./DGB, WDJ