Camanava’s worst fear: ‘Yolanda’ plus high tide

The Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) area, historically the most flood-prone in the metropolis, preempted the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” by evacuating at least 66 families late Friday from sites vulnerable not only to storm surges but also to rising tides.

“The worst case scenario we are preparing for involves a storm surge and a 1.8-meter high tide expected early Saturday morning, plus Yolanda’s strong winds,” said Paul Ross Bryan Felix, chief of the Navotas Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO).

Weather forecasters said Metro Manila may feel Yolanda’s fury starting Friday night till the wee hours of Saturday.

Felix said the city’s 39 pumping stations were fully functional and ready to alleviate flash floods. Rescue personnel and vehicles were also put on standby.

“As part of our preparations, we’ve evacuated 66 families from Sitio Pulo in Barangay Tanza, near the Navotas-Malabon border, because it is quite  remote. Instead of us deploying rescue teams to reach them in case of a storm surge, we already moved them to Tanza Elementary School as a precaution,” he added.

Felix recalled that a storm surge unleashed by Typhoon “Pablo” in 2012 practically wiped out an entire colony of informal settlers who had their homes built on stilts along the coastline facing Manila Bay.

In neighboring Malabon City, the local DRRMO chief, Roderick Tongol, said the local government was also worried that the storm would coincide with a significantly high, nine-meter tide on Friday night till Saturday morning.

At least four families guarding fish ponds in Dampalit, Malabon, have been evacuated to the barangay hall, Tongol said.

In southern Metro Manila, around 60 families in Muntinlupa City were evacuated Friday from low-lying areas near Laguna de Bay, said public information officer Tez Navarro.

In Manila, 300 families were evacuated from the Baseco compound in Tondo. With a report from Jaymee T. Gamil