About 122 sitios in 30 barangays in Dumaguete City, and San Jose, Negros Oriental are either classified or rated as high to very high to landslides and flooding in a 1:10,000-scale geohazard assessment and mapping conducted by a team of senior geologists from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7.

The mapping is consistent with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) of the Aquino administration of reducing, if not, totally mitigating, the destructive impacts of natural hazards to the communities.

Of the 30 barangays in Dumaguete City, 17 barangays or 57 percent are critically or highly susceptible to flooding.

“The results of our assessment in a detailed or zoom-in scale somehow get a confirmation on our appraisal in 2009 using a scale of 1:50,000, and this time we have a detailed study in every sitio or purok in a city or municipality,” said MGB 7 Regional Director Loreto B. Alburo.

He added the difference between the two scales as the 1:10,000 provides the detailed or specific data per sitio. The other scale provides the information per barangay.

Likewise, out of 24 barangays in Valencia, Negros Oriental, 13 or 59 percent are susceptible to flooding and landslides covering 53 sitios or 22 for landslides and 31 for flooding.

“One of the most important components of the mapping is the giving out of a reminder or advisory to the local chief executives, particularly the Mayor and a Barangay Captain to sift through the findings including the recommendations so that they would be able to institute the appropriate interventions or measures to lessen the possible impacts of these geohazards,” Alburo added.

Also, he stressed the need to establish and develop an early warning system to be put into practice in each barangay or sitio so that the communities would be able to respond very effectively when disasters occur.