Over 5,000 Zambales residents displaced by Carina, southwest monsoon

Jemmy Olegario, 73, sits beside a temporary shelter they built along a coastal road in Barangay San Miguel, San Antonio town, Zambales, after their home near the river was flooded due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday. (Photo by Joanna Rose Aglibot)

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — Jemmy Olegario, 73, and his wife Nora took refuge along a coastal road in Barangay San Miguel in this town after their home near the Pamatawan River was flooded by heavy rainfall on Wednesday, July 24, at the height of Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi).

In an interview Thursday, Olegario recounted how some family members and neighbors sought shelter at an evacuation center in the village as floodwaters entered their homes.

“It’s fortunate that we began evacuating our belongings early. The water level is lower now compared to the last time when our houses were completely submerged, and we couldn’t save any belongings,” Olegario said, referring to the devastating flood during Typhoon Egay in 2023, which turned the entire village into a lake.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Typhoon Carina

More than 5,000 residents in Zambales have been displaced due to the combined effects of the typhoon, which enhanced the southwest monsoon.

Data from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), as of 6 a.m. on Thursday, show that 1,929 families, or 5,627 individuals, were evacuated.

Currently, 1,976 families, or 5,733 individuals, are staying in 68 designated evacuation centers across the province, while 98 families, or 321 individuals, are residing with relatives or friends in safer areas.

Floodwaters have affected 76 villages in the province, although the water in some areas has begun to recede.