Marikina City logs record-high number of evacuees

‘LUGAW’ LINE Evacuees form lines for a hot bowl of porridge at Malanday Elementary School in Marikina City on Wednesday,
one of the first places to brim with families fleeing to safety as the Marikina River swelled to alarming levels due to rains
brought by Super Typhoon Carina. (INQUIRER / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina City logged a record-high number of evacuees amid the onslaught of the southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” which was enhanced by Typhoon Carina.

Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, in a Radyo 630 interview on Thursday, said that at least 31,128 residents fled to evacuation centers—more than the nearly 29,000 evacuees in 2009 when Tropical Storm Ondoy also hit the city and other areas.

“Ito po yung highest reported natin na evacuation na nangyari,” Teodoro said.

(This is the largest number of evacuees we have recorded.)

He attributed the increase in the number of evacuees to the preparation and discipline of the residents.

“Baka bahagi na rin po ng kahandaan ng mga kababayan natin, ‘yung discipline nila sa paglikas. Nag-preemptive evacuation po ‘yung marami,” Teodoro said.

(Maybe it is also due to the readiness and discipline of our citizens in evacuating. Many of them carried out preemptive evacuations.)

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, the Marikina City Public Information Office said that the water level in the Marikina River is at 15.5 meters as of 6 a.m.