Rain from ‘Dodong’ gives Isabela farmers respite from dry spell

WORK GOES ON A farmer in Gamu, Isabela, plows his rice field in the village of Upi on Friday, taking advantage of rains dumped by Tropical Depression “Dodong” which made landfall in the province. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.

GAMU, ISABELA—The rain dumped by Tropical Depression “Dodong” on Thursday was a welcome respite for farmers in this province that continued to suffer from a dry spell brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon that is also affecting other parts of the country.

But the heavy downpour lasted for only a few hours and barely drenched the parched farmlands, especially in this agricultural town, rice farmer Joseph Aguinaldo, 50, of Upi village told the Inquirer in an interview on Friday.

“We were hoping for a heavy rainfall that could last for a while. But it was short-lived, so it’s humid once again after that evening rain,” Aguinaldo said.

Aguinaldo’s younger brother, Michael, 48, was disappointed by the short-lived rain as he was up before daybreak, hoping for an early start to sell fish and farm frogs on the roadside, in case an intense rain would again fall over the town.

The rain also barely raised the near-critical level of Magat Dam, which measured 162.72 meters above sea level on Friday morning. It was slightly up from the 162.35 masl registered on Thursday, records from the National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MARIIS) showed.

Magat Dam, one of the country’s biggest dams, is a multipurpose dam for irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric power generation.

Irrigation halted for Isabela provinces

In a separate interview, Gileu Michael Dimoloy, department manager at NIA-MARIIS, said the dam’s supply for farms was suspended on Friday after irrigation officials anticipated heavy rains due to Dodong.

However, without the expected rainfall, Dimoloy said the rationing for irrigation supply would immediately resume for farms serviced by the dam, which straddles the boundary towns of Ifugao and Isabela provinces.

He said they were hoping that the dam level would not drop below the 160-masl critical mark, which would result in a limited supply of irrigation.

As of Friday, a cloud seeding operation was still not an option to raise the dam’s level, Dimoloy said, noting that this would pose a “big challenge” to the dam operator since the winds could veer the rains away from the dam’s watersheds.

In the nearby Ilocos region, disaster response officials raised a “code blue” alert status on Friday due to Dodong.

The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), in a memorandum, said the declaration was meant to prepare areas in the region for the possible adverse effects of the weather disturbance.

The blue alert means local disaster response personnel have been informed of the looming threat of the weather disturbance, although no evacuation was necessary.

Floods, landslides

In a bulletin at 5 p.m. on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that flooding and rain-induced landslides were possible to be experienced in the region as Dodong was forecast to traverse the mainland of Northern Luzon.

Dodong, the country’s fourth tropical cyclone this year, earlier made landfall in Dinapigue town in Isabela and accelerated while moving westward over the coastal waters of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte province as of 5 p.m.

Dodong packed a sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 75 kph as it moved northwestwards at 15 kph with strong winds extending outwards up to 150 kph.

Tropical Wind Signal No.1, which indicates winds of 39 to 61 kph, was hoisted over the provinces of Cagayan, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province, Kalinga and the northern portion of Isabela.

Accumulated rainfall of up to 50-100 millimeter was also expected over Cagayan, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra Benguet, Ilocos Norte, La Union and Pangasinan.

Gusty conditions were expected to prevail over Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Zambales, Bataan, Aurora, Pangasinan, La Union, Isabela and Benguet until tomorrow due to the southwest monsoon, Pagasa said.

Dodong was forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Saturday night or on Sunday early morning.

“Dodong will remain as a tropical depression during the remainder of its traverse of mainland Northern Luzon. It may reach tropical storm category by tomorrow afternoon or evening while over the West Philippine Sea,” the weather bulletin added.

The Ilocos RDRRMC, meanwhile, ordered all local DRRM councils to mitigate Dodong’s impact by preparing all critical services and facilities.

A ban on sailing, fishing and swimming activities was also enforced in areas covered by gale warnings.

—WITH REPORTS FROM ABBY BOISER AND JOHN MICHAEL MUGAS

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