MANILA, Philippines—Several areas in the Philippine capital as well as its nearby provinces were declared under state of calamity following the torrential rains pounding these areas for days which led to the unrelentless rise of waters.
According to reports from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Office of Civil Defense, under state of calamity were: Laguna, Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Navotas, Malabon, Muntinlupa, Marikina, Guiguinto, Meycauyan City, Malolos and Obando in Bulacan, as well as San Juan, Manila, Pateros, Pasay and Valenzuela.
In an aerial inspection Wednesday morning, NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos said 30 percent of Metro Manila was soaked in floods.
The Camanava area, comprised of Caloocan, Malabon and Valenzuela, flooding was “still very bad” as reported by Director Lina Sarmiento head of Philippine National Police Community Relations, in a meeting presided by President Benigno Aquino at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council headquarters Wednesday afternoon.
She said 6×6 trucks were the only mode of transportation that could pass through several flooded areas in Malabon.
In Laguna, earlier reports said that over 40,000 persons were displaced and housed in 152 evacuation centers in 14 municipalities and four cities and 169 villages.
Widespread flooding was also reported in Muntinlupa, San Juan and Pateros due to the continuous rains.
Meanwhile, in Marikina City, where flooding is usually reported, its Sto. Nino station reached the 20-meter mark on Tuesday. When rains became light, the water subsided but continued to rise back after the heavy rains on Wednesday afternoon. As of latest, it was at 19.0 meters above sea level, according to the Marikina Public Information Office.
Affected persons were over 1.2 million in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas and NCR, the NDRRMC said.
On Tuesday, Metro Manila was on a day-long red warning signal, surpassing the total amount of rainfall of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009. Early Wednesday, the warning was downgraded by the state weather bureau to green then yellow, the lowest alert.
On late afternoon, a few hours of relief from heavy rains, red alert was up again, pouring more than 30mm per hour amount of rainfall. As of latest, it was downgraded to yellow warning.
OCD NCR Director Susana Cruz said that being under state of calamity would allow local governments to utilize their funds allotted for disasters and to be able to expedite their recovery, as well as allow its residents to be able to apply for calamity loans.
Originally posted: 10:11 pm | Wednesday, August 8th, 2012