Floods spawned by ‘Ompong’ hit Bulacan days after typhoon left

Residents of Calumpit, Bulacan, use a boat to navigate a flooded street in this file photo. INQUIRER FILE / ARNOLD ALMACEn

Despite the sunny weather in Bulacan, several barangays in Calumpit and Hagonoy were flooded on Tuesday after water dumped by Typhoon “Ompong” in Northern Luzon began flowing into the Central Luzon province, two days after the storm left.

About 20 barangays in Calumpit and four in Hagonoy were experiencing “backflooding,” said Liz Mungcal, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO).

Mungcal said the flood was coming from Nueva Ecija through the Pampanga River.

Ompong made landfall in Baggao, Cagayan, on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018. It crossed over to Kalinga and Ilocos Norte while dumping massive amounts of rain over Northern and Central Luzon. The typhoon left the Luzon land mass and the Philippine area of responsibility that same day.

READ: Monster typhoon ‘Ompong’ makes landfall in Baggao, Cagayan / ‘Ompong’ rainfall in Baguio may surpass ‘Ondoy’ record in Metro Manila

“‘Yung tubig na galing karamihan sa mga bayan at lungsod ng Nueva Ecija ay babagsak sa Arayat, Pampanga. Walang ibang daan na pababa kundi sa Pampanga River. At kasama sa nadadaanan ay mga bayan ng Calumpit at Hagonoy at ilang portion ng Pulilan,” Mungcal said in an interview over dzMM.

She said several roads in Calumpit and Hagonoy were no longer passable to light vehicles due to the flooding.

Subsequently, local officials in Calumpit suspended classes in several schools, Mungcal added. /cbb