Dams stop spill but floods persist in Bulacan, Isabela, Cagayan
RECEDING | These children, who are among those evacuated last week from the flood-hit village of Sapang Bayan in Calumpit, Bulacan, wade through floodwater which has since receded. (Photo courtesy of the Calumpit Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office)
CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — The weather has improved in Luzon, but some villages in Bulacan and bridges and low-lying areas in Isabela and Cagayan provinces were still flooded on Sunday.
Floodwaters in at least 13 villages in Calumpit town in Bulacan have started to subside on Sunday as Angat and Ipo dams stopped discharging waters.
The 1.52-meter (5 feet) floodwaters experienced in the town’s village of Sapang Bayan on Saturday have subsided to only 0.91 meters (3 feet) by Sunday, said Jonjon Santiago of the Calumpit Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) in a phone interview.
The water level in other inundated villages that had risen to up to 1.22 meters (4 feet) had also subsided after the heavy rains spawned by the shear line and the through of the low pressure area outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility has abated, he added.
In the town of Hagonoy, the villages around Angat, Ipo, and Bustos dams were likewise seeing improved conditions but some areas were still under up to 0.61 meters (2 feet) of water although residents opted not to evacuate, said Jesus Cruz, the head of the town’s DRMMO.
Water release stopped
Angat, Ipo and Bustos dams harness water from the Angat River that traverses through the Bulacan towns of Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliwag, Plaridel, Pulilan, Calumpit, Hagonoy, and Paombong before ending in Manila Bay. Calumpit and Hagonoy are the two catch basin towns of these waters.
The improved weather condition on Sunday prompted authorities to stop water discharge in the three dams.
However, the water level at the Angat Dam still measured 214.04 meters above sea level (masl) as of early Sunday, about two meters beyond the 212.00-masl spilling level.
Ipo Dam was at 100.95 masl as of 11 a.m. on Sunday, which was already below its 101.00-masl spilling level, while Bustos Dam was within its 17.30-masl spilling level as of 8 a.m. on Sunday.
Evacuees to go home
About 4,000 residents from 500 families in 30 villages living along the low-lying areas of Angat River in Norzagaray, Angat, Bustos, San Rafael, Baliwag, Plaridel, Pulilan, and Calumpit were preemptively evacuated on Friday because of the dam discharges.
Felicisima Mungcal, head of the Bulacan Provincial DRRMO, said they have allowed displaced residents to return home on Sunday until Monday.
Gov. Daniel Fernando has ordered the distribution of relief packs to the affected families, said Rowena Tiongson, the provincial social welfare and development officer.
In Isabela province, the scheduled release of 200 cubic meters of water per second in Magat Dam set starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday was deferred pending an assessment of the watershed situation, said National Irrigation Administration Division Manager Carlo Ablan.
The dam has stayed within its 189.09-masl reservoir level after it released water on Saturday afternoon.
Road, bridges flooded
But the Baculod, Cansan-Bagutari, and Cabagan-Santa Maria bridges in Isabela remain flooded on Sunday morning.
In Tuguegarao City, the capital of Cagayan province, the flood monitoring command center reported that Pinacanauan Bridge and the area between Teresa Boulevard to Cataggaman section and Bunagan Bridge remained not passable to motorists due to floods.
The water is expected to recede amid recorded sunny weather in Tuguegarao, Peñablanca, Enrile, and Solana towns in Cagayan, officials said.
The water level at Buntun Bridge also receded from 8.1 meters high on Saturday to 6.9 meters on Sunday morning.
On Saturday, parts of Solana were submerged in knee-deep flood, including farms in villages close to Cagayan River, the municipal DRRMO reported.
In Cagayan’s town of Enrile, low-lying areas remained flooded since Saturday.
