BACOLOD CITY — Flooding due to habagat or the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Bebinca forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 individuals in Negros Occidental on Friday. A total of 142 families or 486 individuals were evacuated in the barangay (villages) of Handumanan, Alijis, Sum-ag, Pahanocoy, Cabug, Taculing and Singcang in Bacolod City as of 10 p.m. Friday. The Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office also reported that 652 families with 1,943 individuals were affected by flooding. There were 1,354 individuals staying inside various evacuation centers in the city, while another 589 stayed with families and friends on safer grounds. In Sipalay City, 362 families with 1,304 members from the villages of Gil Montilla, Mamboroto, Cartagena and Cabadiangan have been evacuated. Flooding was also reported in the towns of San Enrique, Pontevedra, Valladolid, Isabela, Pulupandan and Hinigaran. In Bacolod City, a 5-year-old boy was reported missing after drowning in a river in Barangay Taculing. Edward Ramirez, operations chief of the Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the victim was swept away by strong river currents during heavy rain here on Friday afternoon. Ramirez said the boy was walking along the river bank with his mother and elder brother when he slipped and fell into the river. The mother tried to rescue the boy, but the strong current took him away. Read The Rest at :