479 families flee floods in Iloilo City

ILOILO CITY — Torrential rains enhanced by the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) inundated 56 barangays in Iloilo City on Monday night, forcing hundreds of families to flee their homes and seek shelter.

The downpour intensified at 8:10 p.m., prompting the city’s disaster monitoring sensors to record extreme hourly rainfall rates and issue a Violet Alert, the highest level for extreme torrential rain.

Average rainfall rates reached 70 millimeters per hour, with cumulative rainfall peaking at 160 and 165 mm over six hours, according to the city’s monitoring data.

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READ: Habagat to persist over parts of Luzon, Visayas Tuesday

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The heavy rains quickly flooded low-lying communities and major thoroughfares, rendering several roads impassable and prompting residents in severely affected areas to evacuate.

The Iloilo City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) reported that 479 families, or 1,570 individuals, were affected by the flooding as of 3 a.m. Tuesday. Of the total, 221 families, or 701 individuals, were relocated to temporary shelters in barangay halls, covered gyms, chapels, and civic centers.

Jaro District sustained the heaviest impact, with 402 families, or 1,312 individuals, affected. Of these, 144 families, or 443 residents, were evacuated to neighborhood centers.

In Mandurriao District, all 77 affected families, comprising 258 individuals, were evacuated from their flooded homes to emergency shelters.

The EOC reported flooding in all major districts as of 2 a.m. Tuesday./coa