FLOOD. More than 52 villages in seven towns of Bulacan suffered from flooding due to strong rains caused by typhoon Carina and the high tide in Manila Bay on Wednesday (July 24, 2024). Two roads in the towns of Bulakan and Guiguinto were also reported unpassable to all types of vehicles. | Screengrabbed from Karen Alvarez’s Facebook Live
The governments of Batangas, Cavite, Bulacan, and Bataan have placed their provinces under a state of calamity due to the widespread destruction caused by Supertyphoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and enhanced southwest monsoon (“habagat”), which brought heavy rains and strong winds to most of Luzon since Monday.
Declaring a state of calamity allows local governments to quickly access emergency funds and implement relief operations for displaced residents.
According to the Batangas Public Information Office (PIO), the declaration was made after an assessment by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) on Wednesday morning, prompting authorities to withdraw the earlier “state of emergency” declaration.
In a separate advisory on Wednesday, the Cavite PIO also announced the state of calamity declaration although details on the extent of the damage and the number of typhoon-affected residents have yet to be released.
In Bulacan, the provincial board on Thursday placed the province under a state of calamity as floodwaters reached up to 2.4 meters (8 feet) due to incessant rains from the enhanced southwest monsoon, Carina, and high tide exceeding a meter.
Bulacan’s 20 towns and four cities were submerged, causing nearly P3 million in initial agricultural damage.
Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando and Vice Gov. Alexis Castro convened an emergency meeting on Thursday at the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) to assess the extent of damage, including the number of affected residents.
PDRRMO data showed 1,167 families (4,339 people) from 53 villages in the province were evacuated.
Rising dam level
As of 8 a.m. on Thursday, the Bustos Dam and Ipo Dam reduced their discharge rates to 162 cubic meters per second (cms) and 61.66 cms, respectively.
The current elevations of Bustos at 16.66 meters and Ipo at 101.13 meters were already close to their spilling levels of 17 meters and 101 meters, respectively. Meanwhile, Angat Dam’s elevation rose to 182.80 meters above sea level (masl), nearly 3 meters above its 180-masl low operational level. The normal high-water level for Angat is 210 masl.
READ: Metro Manila now under state of calamity due to Typhoon Carina
In Bataan, the provincial board passed a resolution on Thursday placing the province under a state of calamity following massive damage to infrastructure and agriculture that was pegged at P35.7 million.
According to Bataan Gov. Joet Garcia, the move will help the provincial government keep the local economy on track as it helps typhoon-affected residents recover.
Reports from PDRRMO said 190,629 residents were affected by the floods, especially those living along coastlines and in vulnerable areas.
Thousands evacuated
On Thursday, three more fatalities, all of them due to electrocution in the province of Rizal, were added to the initial list of eight dead due to the onslaught of Carina and the impact of habagat.
At least 16,664 families, or 54,148 people, were evacuated in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), the regional police reported on Thursday. The evacuees are staying in more than 189 evacuation centers.
Since Tuesday, the Calabarzon police have deployed 2,616 personnel to assist people in typhoon-hit areas in the region. Policemen had been asked to help in clean-up, relief, and rehabilitation operations.
Brig. Gen. Paul Kenneth Lucas, Calabarzon police chief, said 623 police officers from the Regional Reactionary Standby Support Force were on standby should the situation in the region worsen.
In the Bicol region, at least 8,288 people in Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Sorsogon provinces were affected by the typhoon, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). No evacuations, however, were reported as of 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
The OCD Bicol said 34 houses were damaged in Pio Duran, Albay. Reports said 12 flights were canceled affecting passengers at Moises R. Espinosa Airport in Masbate, Naga Airport in Camarines Sur, and Bicol International Airport in Albay.