Marcos orders safety measures before releasing dam water amid Carina

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told concerned government agencies on Wednesday to ensure communities near dams are warned and evacuated before releasing water, especially in Luzon.

Marcos issued the directive during a situation briefing to assess the effects of Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon.

In the briefing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council informed the President that the Ipo Dam and Bingo Dam already announced at 11 a.m. that they would be opening their gates to release water.

“[‘Yung] mga areas na naabutan… naabisuhan lang o napadalhan natin ng tulong para mag-evacuate? That’s what we need to do,” Marcos said during the situation briefing.

(Have we notified those living in the affected areas or have we sent help for them to evacuate? That’s what we need to do.)

“Iwasan natin ‘yun. Kulang ‘yung pagsasabihan lang natin. Kailangan magpapadala tayo ng sasakyan para [sa evacuation]. [Madala sa] pinakamalapit na evacuation center o puwedeng gamitin na evacuation center,” he added.

(Let’s avoid that. Just announcing it is not enough. We need to send a vehicle for evacuation to the nearest evacuation center or usable evacuation center.)

READ: Metro Manila now under state of calamity due to Typhoon Carina 

Marcos also suggested evacuating residents to evacuation centers overnight to “prepare for the downstream.”

Many parts of the country, especially Metro Manila, have been battered by rain and floods since Tuesday due to the effects of Carina and the southwest monsoon.

As of 11:00 a.m., Carina was last spotted 345 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 205 kph, the state weather bureau said.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Typhoon Carina