Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz has directed municipal mayors and barangay captains in the province to relocate families living in disaster-prone areas in their localities to prevent fatalities in case of a natural calamity.

In a meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council Friday, Arnaiz also directed all local government units in the province to submit their respective disaster preparedness plans for review by the PDCC.

The meeting was called in the aftermath of the Leyte landslide in the town of St. Bernard last month, which buried almost one thousand residents who were living in a disaster-prone area.

The Province of Oriental Negros has appropriated P500,000 to help the victims of the Leyte tragedy.

Arnaiz also directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as well as the National Irrigation Administration, to review and validate studies of flashflood-prone areas in the province.

It can be recalled that a similar landslide occurred in the town of Tayasan last month, which was also brought about by heavy rains. The Tayasan landslide destroyed some three hectares of agricultural land but no casualties were reported.

The landslide was the second to be reported in that same barangay in almost 20 years.

Other disaster-prone areas in the province are in the southern towns of Oriental Negros. The town of Siaton and the other southern towns were cut off from the rest of the province for about three days some two years ago when the Siaton River overflowed its banks and eroded the foundation of the bridge leading to the town.

In Sta. Catalina town, several people living along the riverbanks have been killed by landslides in the past several years.*AP

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