Water levels of Marikina River, La Mesa Dam still on alert status

A RIVER THREATENS A view of the Marikina River as its water level is reduced from the critical 19 meters to 18.9 meters amid the heavy rains induced by tropical storm “Maring” for the second straight day Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013. The city government evacuated thousands of residents around the area as the river threatened to overflow due to continuous rains induced by tropical storm “Maring”. JULLIANE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Marikina River and La Mesa Dam in Quezon City remained on alert water levels early Wednesday even as they continued to subside, authorities said.

La Mesa Dam’s water level was at 80.24 meters as of 4 a.m., still above its spilling level of 80.15 meters, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

Marikina River was at 16.2 meters, or alert level two, as of 5:25 a.m., the Marikina public information office said in its Twitter account. On Tuesday, it went up to a critical level of 19 meters, which prompted the forced evacuation of thousands of nearby residents.