Floods cause class suspension in 2 provinces

CITY OF MALOLOS—Officials in 12 towns and two cities in Bulacan suspended classes in all levels on Monday due to floods following heavy rains in the last three days.

Reports from the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council (PDRRMC) in Bulacan said while rains were intermittent on Monday, classes in elementary and high schools and colleges in Balagtas, Baliwag, Bulakan, Bustos, Guiguinto, Hagonoy, Paombong, Marilao, Obando, Pulilan, San Miguel and San Ildefonso towns and in the cities of Malolos and Meycauayan were suspended due to floods rising to about 3 feet.

Evacuation

In Pulilan town, 21 families, composed of more than 70 people, in Barangay Tibag were evacuated to their village chapel on Sunday after their houses were submerged in floodwater when water in an irrigation canal there overflowed.

Officials of the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) ordered the release of water from Bustos Dam on Saturday when the reservoir level reached 17.43 meters above sea level (masl). The dam’s spilling level is 17.70 masl.

NIA continued releasing water on Monday even as the water level at the Bustos reservoir dropped to 17.32 masl.

Inundated river

Felicisima Mungcal, chief of the Bulacan PDRRMC, said the Bayabas River in Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT) town, which feeds the Bustos reservoir, overflowed due to strong rains.

Mungcal said the provincial government needs to build a new dam near the Bayabas River to help contain the water flowing into the Bustos reservoir downstream and prevent severe flooding.

Water level at Ipo Dam on Monday was 100.36 masl, which was below its spilling level of 101 masl, while the Angat Dam’s level of 190.61 masl was still below its 212 masl spilling level.

Pampanga

In Pampanga, PDRRMC reports said at least 14 villages in Guagua, Apalit, Macabebe and Masantol towns were flooded on Monday.

Josefina Timoteo, chief of the Office of Civil Defense in Central Luzon, said the mayors of Candaba, Masantol, Sto. Tomas and Sta. Ana towns and Angeles City also suspended classes in public and private elementary schools due to heavy rains and floods.

Benjamin Santos, head of the disaster risk reduction and management council of San Simon town, said the body of Noel Tuazon, 15, who drowned on Saturday, was recovered in the Pampanga River in Masantol town on Monday. Reports from Carmela Reyes-Estrope and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon