Over 700 residents flee homes as floods hit Cabangan, Zambales

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — More than 700 residents fled their homes and sought shelter in evacuation centers as nonstop heavy rains triggered flooding in low-lying areas of Cabangan town on Friday, Aug. 28.

Champ del Rosario, head of the Cabangan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), said 245 families, or 719 individuals, were staying in 10 evacuation centers as of 4 p.m.

More than half of the evacuees were from Barangay Mabanglit, where 180 families, or 518 individuals, were forced to leave their homes.

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Other affected villages were Apo-Apo, San Rafael, Anonang, Casabaan, Cadmang and Sta. Rita.

“The flooding was considered significant in the said areas where floodwaters reached above knee level,” del Rosario said in a phone interview.

Rice fields and other farmlands in several areas were also inundated, he said.

Floodwaters had significantly receded in the affected barangays as of the latest update, with only light to moderate rain reported in the town.

A portion of the National Highway in Mabanglit that was earlier impassable to all types of vehicles due to flooding had also become passable. /das