Luzon dams top spilling levels

BAGUIO CITY—Continuous heavy rains dumped by Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) forced operators of six dams in the Cordillera region, and Bulacan and Isabela provinces to open their floodgates as their reservoirs’ levels breached the spilling marks.

Magat Dam in Isabela province released water at 184 cubic meters per second at 7 a.m. on Thursday. The latest discharge was in addition to the opening of two other gates, which released water at 806 cms.

Ambuklao and Binga dams in Benguet province also discharged water on Thursday.

In Bulacan, towns near its three dams braced for the impact of water discharge on Thursday.

Angat Dam, which supplies 98 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water, began releasing water to reduce its reservoir level of 213 meters above sea level, a 5-meter rise from the previous day. Its normal high level was at 210 masl.

Ipo Dam below Angat released water at 1,361 cms when its elevation reached 101.76 meters. Ipo’s spilling level is 101 meters. Bustos Dam started releasing water at 2,520 cms after its level rose to 18.04 meters. Its spilling level is 17 meters. The volume of released water was eventually reduced to 587 cms.

Central Luzon, Bicol flooded

At least three people died from typhoon-related incidents in the provinces of Camarines Norte and Benguet, reports from disaster response agencies said.

In Central Luzon, at least 3,000 families in the region were taken to 106 evacuation centers in Bulacan, Aurora, Pampanga, Zambales, Nueva Ecija and Bataan provinces that were also struck by massive floods.

More than 4,000 families, or 14,500 people, in 11 Bulacan towns and cities fled when up to 2-meter-high (7 feet) floodwater spread through their communities.

Five roads in Aurora, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga were not passable due to floods and debris from trees.

In Pampanga, 68 villages in the towns of Masantol, Macabebe, San Luis, Sto. Tomas, Candaba, San Simon, Sasmuan, Guagua and Apalit, and the City of San Fernando were flooded.

In Isabela, over 7,400 families were evacuated at the height of the typhoon, which triggered widespread flooding in low-lying villages.

In Bicol, Ulysses sent 50,582 families (180,581 people) to various evacuation centers in the region, the Office of Civil Defense reported.

Landslides

But most of these residents, still recovering from the devastation wrought by Typhoon “Rolly” (international name: Goni) on Nov. 1, were allowed to return to their flooded homes by noon on Thursday.

Flooding was reported in 37 towns across Bicol, triggered by floodwaters from swollen rivers and 2-meter to 3-meter-high storm surges that submerged houses, commercial establishments, roads and farms.

Landslides were reported in the towns of Bulusan, Sorsogon province; Ragay and Sipocot, both in Camarines Sur province; Paracale in Camarines Norte; and Pandan in Catanduanes province.

Catanduanes situation

Catanduanes was still reeling from the effects of Rolly. Power lines that were just starting to be repaired were toppled anew.

Some areas at the capital Virac were flooded, sending at least 145 families to government buildings and private homes since most of the evacuation centers had been damaged by Rolly.

Across the province, 1,344 families in seven towns were evacuated on Wednesday, a report from the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO) said.

Virac still has no electricity and remains cut off from the rest of the province. It has little or no contact with the other towns as roads were blocked by landslides, the PDRRMO reports said.

Power outages were reported in Bataan, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan and Olongapo City and parts of Baguio City and Benguet. —REPORTS FROM KIMBERLIE QUITASOL, CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE, TONETTE OREJAS, JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT, GREG REFRACCION, ARMAND GALANG, YOLANDA SOTELO, VILLAMOR VISAYA JR., MAR ARGUELLES, REY ANTHONY OSTRIA, MA. APRIL MIER-MANJARES AND FERNAN GIANAN