Rains bring floods, mudslides in towns of Ecija, Cagayan, Isabela

CABANATUAN CITY—As many as 110 families from two villages in Gapan City were evacuated to safer grounds as water levels at the Bucana Bridge rose by 6.5 meters as of 9 a.m. on Thursday (Nov. 2) due to heavy rains.

Senior Supt. Eliseo Tanding, Nueva Ecija police director, said 70 families have settled in the Gapan City gymnasium while 40 families were taken to the North Elementary School, both in Barangay (village) San Vicente.

The evacuees were from the villages of Sto. Nino and San Vicente, Tanding said.

In Nueva Ecija’s Gabaldon town, the municipal disaster risk reduction management office reported that the road linking the town to Gapan was open to traffic as government workers started clearing the debris from a mudslide along Barangay Pantoc.

In Cagayan province, floods triggered by monsoon rains prompted the provincial government to cancel classes in all levels.

In Isabela province, floods have submerged the overflow bridges of Alicaocao in Cauayan City, the Santa Maria-Cabagan bridge, the Cabagan-Santo Tomas bridge and the Annafunan bridge, all in Isabela.

A soil erosion that caused a tree to fall also blocked the flow of traffic along the road in Barangay Zone 1, San Mariano town in Isabela on Nov. 1. But it was immediately cleared by firemen, policemen and volunteers. /jpv