Swollen Pampanga River floods 52 villages

CRITICAL LEVEL Water level in Pampanga River rose to a critical level due to the heavy rain spawned by Tropical Depression “Pepito” on Friday, flooding 52 villages near it, including low-lying areas in Macabebe, Pampanga. —REINER PAWID

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Rains triggered by Tropical Storm “Pepito” (international name: Saudel) caused the swollen Pampanga River to overflow on Thursday, flooding 52 villages in four towns in the province, disaster risk reduction and management officials said.

The storm intensified into a typhoon but only after exiting the country’s monitoring areas.

Affected by the floods, which rose to 2 feet in some villages, were more than 22,000 families in the towns of San Luis, Macabebe, Masantol and Candaba.  Many of these families, however, opted to remain in their flooded communities instead of evacuating.

The Pampanga River takes in water from the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. High tide and monsoon rains worsened the flooding.

Some main roads in the affected towns remained impassable while a bridge in Masantol and a dike in Candaba were reported eroded.

In Bulacan, 28 villages in the towns of Hagonoy and Calumpit were submerged in up to 4-foot floodwater that was worsened by the overflow from the Ipo and Bustos dams. The two towns were among the major catch basins in Bulacan. —TONETTE OREJAS AND CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE