‘Maymay’ weakens, leaves 2 dead in Cagayan

WATER RISING Floodwater submerges houses and streets at Barangay San Juan in Ballesteros town, Cagayan, following heavy rain dumped by Tropical Depression “Maymay” on Wednesday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF FRANCIS JORQUE/CAGAYAN PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Tropical Depression “Maymay” claimed another life in Cagayan province before it weakened into a low-pressure area (LPA) on Thursday morning, police and local disaster response officials said.

The latest fatality was also a fisherman, Richard Mangrubang, 47, a resident of Barangay San Vicente in Santa Ana town.

Maj. Manuel Viloria, Santa Ana police chief, said Mangrubang drowned while he was at sea as “Maymay” dumped heavy rainfall on the province on Tuesday. Mangrubang, Viloria said, went fishing on Monday night and failed to return home. Fellow fishermen last saw Mangrubang near Palaui Island, also in Santa Ana.

His body was recovered in the waters off Ipil village in nearby Gonzaga town on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Mangrubang was the second fatality related to the onslaught of “Maymay,” according to the Cagayan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO).

On Tuesday, the body of fisherman Marcial Pugal, 52, of Buguey town, was recovered in the waters off Santa Ana.

Ruelie Rapsing, head of Cagayan PDRRMO, said the fishermen headed to sea despite the gale warning. “Maybe they badly needed to make a livelihood,” Rapsing said.

An official of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), however, said the agency was still verifying reports of two storm-related deaths in Cagayan.

“We have a validation process so we have not made it official in our situational report but we have received these reports,” NDRRMC spokesperson Rafaelito Alejandro IV said over Teleradyo on Thursday.

The PDRRMO said at least 110 villages in 14 Cagayan towns were affected by widespread flooding that reached a meter (3 feet) deep in some areas, affecting 4,867 families or 17,673 people.

Farms submerged

Among the hardest hit was the town of Allacapan, where flooding submerged at least 7,000 hectares of farms planted with rice and vegetables that were ready for harvest, Mayor Harry Florida said in a radio interview.

An irrigation canal in the town was also damaged by flash floods.

Florida said the municipal DRRMO had already recommended the declaration of a state of calamity in the town due to the impact of “Maymay.”

On Wednesday afternoon, a spill gate of Magat Dam in Ramon town, Isabela province, was opened to release 200 cubic meters of water per second to ease the pressure on the reservoir due to heavy rain.

But the National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MRIIS) said it reduced the discharge on Thursday after the amount of rainfall in the area began to decrease.

As of 5 a.m. on Thursday, the dam’s elevation was 186.61 meters above sea level (masl), close to its spilling level of 190 masl.

The NIA-MRIIS said it reduced the spillway gate opening from a meter to 0.5 m at 7 a.m. on Thursday.In its 5 a.m. bulletin on Thursday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said although “Maymay” had weakened into an LPA, the threat of heavy rainfall would continue.

Pagasa said a new tropical depression located 1,400 kilometers east of extreme northern Luzon was expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility also on Thursday.

—WITH A REPORT FROM FRANCES MANGOSING

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