FLOODING IN NORTHERN LUZON DISPLACES 400,000
MANILA, NOVEMBER 8, 2010 (MANILA TIMES) BY WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTER - But rains over northern Luzon may stop today.
FLOODING in Northern Luzon brought about by days of continuous heavy downpour has already caused more than P300 million in damage to agriculture and fisheries, displaced over 100,000 families or at least 400,000 people, and left 13 people dead so far and still counting, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
But the good news is, according to the Philippine National Police' Directorate for Integrated Operations in Northern Luzon, the Cagayan River has started to subside and the rain has stopped as of 11 a.m. Sunday.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration also said that the rains have eased up and were expected to totally stop late Sunday or early Monday.
Undersecretary Benito Ramos, chief executive officer of the NDRRMC and concurrent administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, said that the total number of people affected in 500 barangays from 45 municipalities and two cities in the six provinces of Regions II, III and the Cordillera Autonomous Region has increased from 67,459 families or 250,865 persons, to 106,923 families or 17,318 persons.
Of the 13 casualties, eight were in Isabela, two in Aurora; and one each in Cagayan, Tugegarao and Kalinga. Search is ongoing for the two missing persons in Cagayan and Isabela.
Quoting reports from the Regional Disaster Risk and Management Disaster Councils in Region II and III, Ramos said that 30,092 hectares of palay (unhusked rice) and corn or 15,169 metric tons were damaged in Isabela and Cagayan, with the estimated loss pegged at P313.749 million.
In Aurora province, 57 hectares of rice, assorted vegetables, fruit trees and two hectares of fishery were damaged with the worth placed at about P2.439 million.
Ramos said that 11 road sections and six bridges in Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Aurora and Apayao were still not passable because of flooding, landslides and washed-out portion, adding that continuous monitoring were being done on the water levels of Magat Dam, which had a water level at an alarming 193.05 meters, or slightly above the spilling level of 193 meters.
Danger to Cagayan River The NDRRMC chief added that the collapsed portion of Mount Musimos in Lubuagan, Kalinga has resulted in an embankment and has impounded large volume of water river, which may cause hydrologic reaction that could inundate areas along the river banks of Chico River down to the Cagayan River.
He said that the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council of Lubuagan, the police and military, have already initiated mass forced evacuation among residents of the nearby Sitio Suklap, Tangiag, Lubuagan.
Ramos added that 17th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army has notified its sub-units in areas likely to be affected like Rizal, Tuao, Piat. Santo Niño, Lasam and Gattaran, and to force residents to evacuate to higher grounds.
The Police Regional Office 2 office has directed all station commanders in the municipalities in Cagayan to inform their respective mayors to initiate forced evacuation of residents along the Cagayan River where Chico River may dump its water.
The reported cost of initial assistance provided by the government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and local government units has reached about P7 million.
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