Flood alert raised in Pangasinan, Tarlac

ROSALES, Pangasinan—Residents of Pangasinan and Tarlac provinces were warned on Wednesday to be on high alert for floods as Typhoon “Henry” dumped rains on northern and central Luzon.

In an advisory issued 7 a.m. on Wednesday, the Agno River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning Center also warned residents living near mountain slopes in eastern Pangasinan towns to be on alert for landslides.

On Tuesday, the center said it recorded an average of 37 millimeters of rainfall and it expected less than 60 mm of rainfall until Thursday morning.

Rivers that may overflow are the upper and middle Agno River and its tributaries consisting of the Ambayoan, Banila and Totogonen rivers, lower Agno River and its tributaries Tarlac and Camiling rivers in Tarlac, and the Sinocalan and Cayanga rivers in Pangasinan.

Flash flood

On Tuesday, the city disaster risk reduction and management center in Dagupan said eight of the city’s 31 villages experienced flash floods because of the rains.

These were Poblacion Oeste, Tapuac, Pantal, Malued, Pogo Grande, Pogo Chico, Lasip Grande and Bonuan Gueset.

The Ambuklao and Binga dams in Benguet province have not been spilling water despite the rains. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the water level at Ambuklao Dam was recorded at 742.07 meters above sea level, which was 2.93 meters below its spilling level of 745 masl.

Binga Dam had a water level of 558.41 masl, about 6.59 meters below its spilling level of 565 masl.

In San Manuel town, the water level at the San Roque Dam remained low. At 6 a.m. Wednesday, water level was at 231.92 masl, way below its spilling level of 280 masl.

In Central Luzon, at least 1,138 residents displaced last week by Typhoon “Glenda” in the region have been hired for cleaning jobs for five to 10 days, an official said.

An initial P1 million has been set aside as wages for 525 workers in Bataan, according to Ana Dione, director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Luzon.

Their daily minimum wage is set at P336.

The disaster response program, called Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (Tupad), is being implemented in the Bataan towns of Dinalupihan, Hermosa, Orani, Abucay and Samal, she said.

Bataan woes

Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia and the provincial board declared a state of calamity in the province after Glenda destroyed P61.2 million worth of infrastructure and P327.8 million of crops and fisheries. At least three persons died in typhoon-related incidents in Bataan, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

At least 37,000 families lost property or homes and more than P2 billion in infrastructure and crops were destroyed.

The Tupad project gave workers tasks in cleaning roads, canals and drainage systems and enrolled them in Red Cross insurance, Dione said.

Tupad in Bulacan province employed 323 workers in Obando and Sta. Maria towns for a total of P1.4 million.

DOLE in Zambales hired 290 workers for P1.3 million while the agency in Pampanga is preparing a P3.5-million Tupad project in the first congressional district. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon