Number of flooded villages in C. Luzon, Pangasinan drops as weather improves

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— Floodwater levels in Central Luzon receded as the sun shone for two straight days, decreasing the number of submerged villages from 704 on Thursday to 329 on Sunday, reports from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Monitoring Council (RDRRMC) showed.

Pampanga has the most number of flooded barangays at 205; Bataan, 6; Bulacan, 68; Tarlac, 27; and Zambales, 23. Water levels range from a foot to 8 feet, the RDRRMC said.

Also on Sunday, messages saying lahar was supposedly flowing toward the Pampanga capital of San Fernando sent residents in panic, city administrator Ferdinand Caylao said. Caylao spoke on radio to disprove the reports and calm the residents.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) sent a team to Pampanga on Friday to assess the lahar situation in the province following the floods that breached dikes. The team has yet to make public its findings but no major lahar flow had occurred in the province, Dr. Renato Solidum, Phivolcs director, told the Inquirer.

RDRRMC reports said 114,091 residents in the region were staying in 380 evacuation centers.

The death toll rose to 37, with 10 fatalities coming from Bataan, nine from Bulacan, 11 from Pampanga, six from Zambales and one from Olongapo City.

Aid to flood victims amounted to P20.349 million, half of which came from local governments. Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales and Olongapo City remained under state of calamity.

Damage to public infrastructure (roads, bridges, irrigation canals and dikes) and agriculture was estimated at P1.6 billion, the RDRRMC said.

In Pangasinan, flooding due to rains dumped by the southwest monsoon in the past week left four persons dead and destroyed some P202.33 million worth of roads, bridges, crops and fish in the province.

Reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) in Lingayen town said three of the fatalities drowned.

The PDRRMC said some 286 villages in the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos and in 19 towns have been submerged in floodwaters.

At least 1,633 families (at least 8,000 people) were taken to 33 evacuation centers, where they were given food packs by the provincial government and nongovernment organizations.

The PDRRMC said floodwaters have begun to subside in most areas, although high water levels were still being reported in areas along rivers traversing the towns of Calasiao and Dagupan City. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon