BACOLOD CITY: Three people were confirmed dead after torrential rains and high tide caused widespread flash floods in Bacolod City on Friday. Authorities identified two of the fatalities as five-month-old Jake Lorence Tortogo from Purok Malinong of Barangay Taculing; and Niño Lambarte, a resident of Barangay Mansilingan. The family of the third victim, a female and discovered at a riverbank located near a subdivision in Barangay Taculing, requested that the girl be not identified. Tortogo’s mother, Janelle Bulac, told the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) that the heavy rains caused a wall that separates their house from the river to suddenly collapsed and sweep away their home. In Barangay Mansilingan, village captain Boy Pico said Lambarte was killed when the wall near his home also collapse on him. CDRRMO officer Aaron Bais said their automated rain gauge in Barangay Alangilan recorded an accumulated rainfall of 102 millimeters, an amount equivalent to at least three days of rainfall, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. He added that the rains coincided with high tide, which further worsened flooding.
