Several areas in Camanava still flooded

Despite the improvement in the weather with the departure of Tropical Storm “Falcon,” some streets in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area were still impassable due to flooding.

In Malabon City, Barangay (village) Dampalit—which was one of the areas worst-hit by floods—water levels in Merville Subdivision remained thigh-high with some residents forced to hitch a ride on inflatable boats just to get to their destination.

Although floodwater levels in the area have gone down since last week, local officials ordered the suspension of classes on Monday at Dampalit Elementary School-Unit 1 to ensure the safety of students.

“We are just waiting for the water to subside so that classes can resume,” barangay treasurer Jaime Cruz told the Inquirer.

On the other hand, classes pushed through at Dampalit Elementary School-Main although the ground floor remained submerged in floodwater.

School officials, however, devised a way so that students could go straight to the second floor from the main street. A submersible pump was also being used to suck out the water from the ground floor.

In nearby Doña Juana Subdivision, water levels were knee-deep as of Monday morning but this did not stop residents from venturing out of their homes. In previous days, the floodwater reached from 12 to 15 feet and the only way for people to move about was to ride in inflatable boats.

Because the situation had “significantly improved,” barangay officials said that seven families who were evacuated on Friday from the area had returned to their respective houses.

In Valenzuela City, however, local officials suspended classes in nine schools that had been used as evacuation centers to give way to cleaning operations so that classes could resume soon.

Ahna Mejia, chief public information officer, identified the schools as P. R. San Diego Elementary School, Arkong Bato National High School, A. Deato Elementary School, Pasolo Elementary School, Coloong Elementary School, Pio Valenzuela Elementary School, A. Fernando Elementary School, Polo National High School and Tagalag Elementary School.

“We have to make sure that the buildings are cleaned before classes resume,” Mejia said.

The nine schools—on top of three other facilities—were used as evacuation centers by some 200 families who were forced to leave their houses due to floods caused by heavy rains on Friday.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, only 30 to 40 families remained in evacuation centers, Mejia said. She added that the evacuees were expected to return to their houses by the end of the day.

Although major streets in Valenzuela City were now passable to all types of vehicles, the areas of Polo and Balangkas, which were still submerged in floodwaters at least six inches deep, remained closed to light vehicles.