Unusual tides hit Malabon

Classes were suspended for three days in several schools in Malabon City starting Monday after unusually high tides, spawned by a supermoon, flooded parts of the city.

Bong Padua, chief of the Malabon City Public Information Office, said the affected schools are Dampalit Elementary School, Dampalit Elementary School Annex and the Academia de Santo Rosario, all in Barangay (village) Dampalit.

“They are suspending classes until Wednesday because of unusually high tides,” Padua said. “The high tides are expected to peak at 2.0 meters on Monday, 2.1 meters on Tuesday, and 2.0 meters on Wednesday.”

“The concern is that the Malabon-Navotas River could overflow,” he said.

Dampalit is a small, low-lying barangay in the northernmost part of Malabon. It is flood-prone, especially since it is near the Malabon-Navotas River, and is surrounded by fish ponds.

Engineer Dario de la Cruz, chief of the Space Science and Astronomy Section of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said the unusually high tides forecast for the coming days were related to the “supermoon” phenomenon, during which the moon is nearest the earth.—Nathaniel R. Melican