FLOODWATERS reaching more than 4 meters high swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered Northern Luzon on Tuesday after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.
Typhoon Pepito drenched swaths of the country over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan River and tributaries and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam.
The Cagayan River broke its banks, spilling water over already sodden farmland and communities, affecting tens of thousands of people.
Buildings, lamp posts and trees poked through a lake of brown water in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, where provincial disaster official Ian Valdepenas said floodwaters reached more than four meters in some places.
“We experienced very heavy rains two days ago, but the flood just started to rise when Magat Dam started releasing huge volumes of water,” Valdepenas said.
“Plus, our land is already saturated because of the consecutive typhoons hitting the area.”
Pepito was the sixth major storm in a month to strike the Philippines, which had left at least 171 people dead and thousands homeless, as well as wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
At least 903 families or 3,371 people from the 30 villages were still sheltering in evacuation centers due to the swelling of Cagayan and Pinacanauan rivers on Nov. 19, two days after Typhoon Pepito induced rains.
Some 1,780 families or 5,526 people were affected as of Nov. 19, Mayor Maila Ting-Que said.
The Magat Dam in Isabela slowed its releases on Tuesday, shutting off two other spill gates and maintaining only three gates with 1,343 cubic meters per second inflow and 2,171 cubic meters per second outflow.
The Cagayan River basin’s measurement system along Buntun Bridge reached 11.5 meters, way above the high level.
In Camalaniugan town in Cagayan, an unidentified body of a man was found floating off the Cagayan River in General Batalla village on Tuesday.
Roofs of houses
In the neighboring province of Isabela, Jun Montereal of the Ilagan City disaster preparedness committee said 30,000 people were still affected by flooding.
But the situation was slowly improving.
“The flood is subsiding now little by little, it’s slower because the land is already saturated, but we are way past the worst,” Montereal said.
“We are really hoping that the weather will continue to be fair so the water can go down. I think the water will completely subside in three days,” he said.
“I can now see the roofs of houses that I wasn’t able to see before because of the floods.”
Carlo Ablan, who helps oversee operations at Magat Dam, said three gates were open as of Tuesday morning to release water from the dam.
“If the weather continues to be good, we are expecting that we will only have one gate open this afternoon,” Ablan said.
Ablan said flooding in Tuguegarao City was not only caused by water from Magat Dam — other tributaries of the Cagayan River were also likely to blame.
Valdepenas said authorities in Tuguegarao were waiting for floodwaters to subside more before sending people back to their homes.
The city of Tuguegarao suspended work in government offices due to flooding.
More than a million people fled their homes ahead of Pepito, which struck the Philippines as a super typhoon before significantly weakening as it swept over the mountains of the main island of Luzon.
Pepito dumped heavy rain, smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least eight lives.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.
Catanduanes victims get help
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday led the turnover of more than P50 million to the provincial government of Catanduanes for its recovery efforts following the onslaught of Super Typhoon Pepito.
He also witnessed the distribution of family food packs worth P633,000 and cash aid of P2.5 million from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the displaced residents.
One thousand family food packs were distributed by the DSWD to typhoon survivors from several barangay in Virac. This is apart from the P5,000 cash relief assistance extended by the agency to 500 families.
“Whatever problem you have, whatever you need, tell your local government. Tell the government agencies and we will do whatever we can to solve that problem,” the chief executive said in Filipino during the distribution activity held at the Virac Sports Complex.
He vowed that the government would continue to provide relief and assistance for as long as needed to ensure that those devastated by the recent spate of weather disturbances get back on their feet.
“This has no deadline. As long as you need the food packs, the help, we will continue to send them,” Marcos said.
Eleven out of 16 municipalities of Catanduanes were severely affected by Pepito.
Marcos has also ordered the immediate restoration of power and communication lines as well as the repair of damaged infrastructure in the province.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said damage to infrastructure and agriculture due to the trio of storms had reached a combined value of P478 million.
Typhoons Nika, Ofel and Pepito caused damage to some P469.8 million in infrastructure in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordilleras.
Meanwhile, the cyclones damaged P8.6 million worth of crops, livestock and farm equipment. Some 1.8 million people were affected by the storms.
The NDRRMC is confirming fatalities from the three typhoons, but said at least 25 people were injured. Local officials had reported that Pepito killed at least eight people.
The government provided P54 million worth of aid so far, it said.
In other storm-related developments:
– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said the island province of Catanduanes was now safe to reach by boat, enabling it to deliver 5,100 family food packs. Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said the resumption of maritime travel will increase access to Catanduanes and allow the DSWD to provide relief more quickly. The assistance will include 45,000 food packs for the province, Dumlao said.
KRISTINA MARALIT, ARLIE O. CALALO, ARIC JOHN SY CUA, FRANCIS EARL CUETO, MOISES CRUZ, REINA C. TOLENTINO, RED MENDOZA, VINCE JACOB VISAYA, AFP
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