Juaning’ batters Aurora with heavy rains and high winds

MANILA, Philippines—Tropical Storm Juaning crossed central and northern Luzon on Wednesday, dumping heavy rains that flooded northern Aurora and spawned landslides in that province. The storm’s heavy rains also swelled rivers elsewhere, claiming the lives of two teenagers in Zambales.

In a report on Wednesday, the Zambales police said two teenaged boys drowned while  swimming in a river in Barangay Pundaquit in San Antonio on Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Wendy Rosario, Zambales police director, said Arve Verano, 16, and Jesmark Perpenan, 17, were swept away by a strong current brought about by heavy rains accompanying Juaning.

In Aurora, strong rains dumped by Juaning over Casiguran town starting Tuesday night caused the Minanga River to overflow at 5 a.m. Wednesday, isolating three villages and some 2,000 people there, Mayor Reynaldo Bitong said.

Residents in the villages of Dibacong, Esperanza and Culat moved to the hills to escape the strong river current and rising floodwaters that at past 10 a.m. reached chest-deep, Bitong said by telephone.

“Binabalagbag kami ng magkasabay na malakas na ulan at hangin (We’re being battered by strong rains and winds),” he told the Inquirer.

The town’s coastline was battered by strong waves, which Bitong said were as high as a single story house, from the Pacific Ocean.

Electricity was cut off in the town on Tuesday night when strong winds toppled electric posts and fallen trees hit power lines, he said.

He said knee-deep floodwaters swamped the town as rivers and creeks overflowed.

Bitong said Army soldiers reached the border of the town at 9 a.m. and delivered a rubber boat that would be used to evacuate families who might be marooned on rooftops in 21 other villages.

Alex Ocampo, provincial administrator, said the northern towns of Aurora were battered by Juaning as early as Tuesday morning. He said weather conditions in the southern part of the province, as in the town of Dingalan where the typhoon was initially forecast to hit, was improving.

He said the towns of Dipaculao, Casiguran and Dilasag were isolated from central Aurora on Wednesday after landslides blocked a section of the Baler-Casiguran Road in  Barangay Dianed in Dipaculao.

“It’s not passable. Vehicles coming from the north have been stranded in Dinadiawan (a village in Dipaculao),” he said.

Ador Canlas, Department of Public Works and Highways assistant director for Central Luzon, said mud and rocks blocked at least five sections of the Dipaculao portion of the Baler-Casiguran Road.

Clearing operations could not immediately be started due to strong rains and winds, he said.

Portions of the road in Casiguran were flooded because water draining from the Muntay River damaged a culvert, Ocampo said. He said residents in the riverside village of Zone 1 in Dinalungan town were evacuated on Wednesday morning.

Strong winds blew off the roof of a school building in Barangay Lawang in Dilasag, he added.

He said the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council  was not surprised when Juaning changed direction, and differed from the weather bureau’s earlier forecast.

“We were advised that Juaning was going to hit southern Aurora (in Dingalan) but it hit instead northern Aurora. It was fortunate that we were able to provide information about severe weather  down to all communities on Tuesday,” Ocampo said.

As of 11 a.m., the Office of Civil Defense in Central Luzon monitored no heavily flooded areas in Bulacan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, including Angeles and Olongapo cities. All major roads and bridges there were passable.

Classes from pre-school to high school levels  in Central Luzon were suspended on Wednesday. Some colleges and universities in the region also suspended classes.

In Isabela, reports from local and police officials said heavy rains and strong winds started pounding the coastal town of Dinapigue, prompting them to evacuate at least four families.

Governor Faustino Dy III suspended work at the provincial capitol so employees could prepare for the storm.

Senior Superintendent Jimmy Rivera, provincial police director, said rescue teams are prepared to respond to any emergency.

The water level at the Magat Dam in Ramon town was 180.04 meters above sea level (masl), still below its 193 masl spilling level.

Chief Supt. Francisco Villaroman, Cagayan Valley police director, said reports from police offices in the five provinces in the region showed that there was no major preemptive evacuation of residents as of Wednesday afternoon.

In Nueva Ecija, Gov. Aurelio Umali said the province readied a mobile kitchen to serve people who would be displaced by the storm.

He said rubber boats and road clearing equipment were ready for use while medical and rescue teams were put on alert.

Reynaldo Puno, operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System, said water elevation at the  Pantabangan Dam on Wednesday morning was 185.63 masl, still below its 221 masl spilling level.

In Bulacan, Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado said rescue teams and dump trucks were sent to the province’s low-lying villages in case residents would be evacuated. Among the areas prioritized were Meycauayan City and the towns of Marilao, Bocaue and Obando.

Water elevation at the Angat Dam in Norzagaray town was 201.68 masl on Wednesday morning, which was below the reservoir’s 210 masl spilling level.

The Ipo Dam, however, was nearing its spilling level of 100.1 masl, with the reservoir level recorded at 99.98 masl on Wednesday.

In Zambales, residents of the coastal village of Lipay-Dingin-Panibuatan in Iba town rushed to the town hall and went to higher areas in the town after they observed huge waves at past 4 p.m. Tuesday.

A  team sent to assess the situation in the village said the residents panicked when they thought their community would be hit by tsunami, especially after a moderate earthquake hit the province earlier that day.

Local officials said what the residents observed was a storm surge.

In La Union, the provincial disaster management council ordered the preemptive evacuation of residents in the coastal village of Mindoro in Bangar town. The village is near the mouth of the Amburayan River.

The provincial government also pre-positioned heavy equipment along rivers that could overflow in Bangar, Aringay and Bauang towns.

Governor Manuel Ortega ordered officials of the police, disaster response and relief agencies to prepare equipment and personnel as Juaning was expected to batter La Union before it headed to the West Philippine Sea.

In the Cordillera, reports from the regional OCD said Binga Dam in Itogon, Benguet, started releasing water through six gates on Wednesday.

The reservoir level reached 563.75 masl, which was still below its critical level of 575 masl. But dam officials said they wanted to maintain water level at 563 masl.

Water level at the Ambuklao Dam in Bokod, also in Benguet, was recorded at 746.03 masl, still below the critical level of 752 masl.

A section of the Baguio-Bontoc Road was closed to traffic on Wednesday after a boulder blocked the highway in Barangay Gonogon in Bontoc, Mt. Province.

Reports from Tonette Orejas, Anselmo Roque, Armand Galang, Carmela Reyes-Estrope and Cesar Villa, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Villamor Visaya Jr., Yolanda Sotelo and Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon