Photo by: TROY GALLARDO
Several low-lying areas in Bulacan province were inundated by flood brought about by heavy to intense with at times torrential rains spawned by Typhoon Egay affecting the national and provincial roads by 2-3 feet of flood where hundreds of motorists were stranded.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Friday reported that 95 barangays in twelve municipalities of the province of Bulacan were flooded due to continuous and intensive rainfall brought by Southwest Monsoon rains locally called Habagat and Typhoon Egay.
PDRRMC Officer-In-Charge ret. Col. Manuel Lukban told The Manila Times that as of 2 p.m. Friday, the hardest hits were the 23 barangays in Calumpit who were submerged by 1-to 3 feet of floodwater due to continuous rainfall.
Sixteen villages were flooded in the town of Paombong, 8 in Guiguinto and Pandi, 5 in Bocaue and San Rafael who were under 1to 4 feet of floodwater.
The villages of Panghulo, Catanghalan, Pag-asa, Tawiran, and Paco were under 2-5 feet of flood water in Obando town..
Two to three feet of floodwaters submerged villages of Tabing-ilog, Abangan Norte, Abangan Sur, Poblacion 1 & 2, Nagbalon, Ibayo, Saog and Lias in Marilao town, 6 villages in Balagtas, 4 in Angat, 2 in Bustos, and 1 in Plaridel.
“Residents along swollen rivers were also advised to move to safer grounds as early as Wednesday afternoon,” Lukban said.
Trucks transmitting relief goods and rescue teams were dispatched to heavily flooded and affected areas through the directive of acting governor Alexis Castro.
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As these developed, floodwater has also made the Macaiban Bridge in Santa Maria town unpassable to all types of vehicles while the Lias road in Marilao town, Mac Arthur Highway in Poblacion, Guiguinto was not passable to light vehicles due to 2-3 ft of floodwater.
Castro since Thursday frequently visiting the PDRRMO’s Communication, Command and Control Center to personally monitor the water level of Angat, Bustos and Ipo Dams as well as the flood situation in the province.
The acting governor also alerted the PDRRMO’s Bulacan Rescue Team during the height of the continuous downpour of heavy rains.
Habagat enhanced by Typhoon Egay has devastated almost P17 million worth of agriculture crops in this province due to a severe flood disaster, provincial agriculturist of Bulacan Ma. Gloria Carillo said.
She added 485.69 hectares of rice fields worth P9.8 million were affected.
Meanwhile, Bustos Dam continues spilling water on Friday morning on its downstream river system inundating low-lying areas.
Josephine Salazar, Central Luzon director of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said that the dam has raised its Sluice Gates 1,2 and 3 at two meters and still deflated it’s Rubber Gate No. 3.
The three sluice gates of Bustos Dam have been discharging a total of 142 cubic meter per second (CMS) of water while the rubber gate has been releasing 380 CMS for a total of 522 CMS compared to its previous day discharge of 737 CMS.
NIA on Thursday advised residents living near Angat river system, particularly in low-lying areas in the towns of Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliwag, Pulilan, Plaridel, Calumpit, Paombong and Hagonoy to be on the alert for the possible rise in the river system water elevation, as Ipo Dam started releasing water before noontime that flows down through Bustos Dam.
A total of 26 evacuation sites were established in these places that accommodated a total of 399 families or 1,672 individuals.
