MANILA, Philippines — Pouring rain on Thursday forced rescuers to stop looking for survivors in the earthquake-battered city of Guihulngan in Negros Oriental.

The rescuers had recovered 30 bodies from the rubble of the quake-triggered landslide in Guihulngan when the search was temporarily stopped.

Authorities feared that the soil, softened by the rain, could once again start a landslide.

Guihulngan Mayor Ernesto Reyes said the rescuers were also at risk because there were aftershocks almost every hour.

Reyes said rescue workers were still checking reports that 21 students were still missing in Barangay Planas, Guihulngan.

Patients in critical condition were flown by Air Force helicopter to Bacolod City because the road from Guihulngan to the provincial capital of Dumaguete City had been damaged.

Felia Acabal, 33, of Barangay Looc, and Nikka Lona Mejares, 7, both sustained leg injuries. A 62-year-old man was also injured when he was hit by falling debris from his damaged house.

The rain could last through the weekend because of an approaching low pressure area (LPA), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Thursday.

Forecaster Mikos Peñaranda said the LPA was 1,060 kilometers east of Mindanao and was expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Thursday afternoon.

Guihulngan and four towns in Negros Oriental were practically isolated because of destroyed damaged roads and bridges, hampering authorities’ efforts to distribute relief goods to tens of thousands of residents.

Water is also a major problem in Guihulngan and the towns of Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud and La Libertad since the pipes and other water connections were damaged by the tremor, according to Minda Morante, director of the Office of the Civil Defense-Central Visayas.

Morante said that because of the scarcity of supply, some residents were already fighting for access to potable water.

She said even fire trucks had been tapped for water distribution but they could not reach the hardest-hit barangays in the upland part of the province.

As a temporary solution water-purifying equipment were set up in strategic areas, Morante said. “The most important here is to repair the road and bridges as soon as possible. In this way, we could easily distribute the needed relief goods to the affected population in those areas,” said Morante.

Power and communication lines in Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad and Guihulngan were also down.

Benito Ramos, executive officer of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said they expect the lines to be restored any time next week.

As of Thursday, at least 71 people were still missing, most of them in La Libertad and City.

Ramos said a number of miners form Cordillera Administrative Region and Cebu have arrived in Negros Oriental to help in the search and rescue operations.

In nearby Cebu, the provincial government said it will send aid to Negros Oriental’s five municipalities that bore the brunt of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake last February 6.

Tayasan town and Guihulngan, which have the biggest number of affected families, will be given P1 million each. Another P1 million will be divided between the towns of Bindoy and Jimalalud while P250,000 will be given to La Libertad town.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia also called on provincial government contractors to lend their heavy equipment to rescue and retrieval operations. (With additional reports from Aaron B. Recuenco and JC Bello Ruiz)