ONDOY-LIKE RAINS: 19 DEAD, 1 M PEOPLE AFFECTED
/ METRO AT A STANDSTILL
19 dead, 1 million people affected By Frances
Mangosing, Matikas Santos and Karen Boncocan INQUIRER.net
MANILA, AUGUST 8, 2012 (INQUIRER)
The death toll from intense rains that have been battering Metro Manila and
nearby provinces since Monday has risen to 19.
In a meeting with President Benigno Aquino III Wednesday, the National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council presented the updated official
count of the fatalities to the chief executive.
Nine of those killed during the onslaught of rains were buried by a landslide
in Quezon City Tuesday morning.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that most of the deaths were due to
drowning and electrocution.
He said that some drowning incidents could have been prevented.
The fatalities were Jayson Baylon, 16; Jayvee Baylon, 20; Jissele Baylon,7,
and Cecilia Baylon, 50; Jonathan Castulo, 3; Junica Castulo, 3 weeks old;
Jessica and Jethro Baylon and Joshua Castulo, from a landslide incident in
Commonwealth; Darel Flores,9 from ekectrocution in Pampanga; and Ariem Menes,19
from Poblacion in Zambales due to drowning.
Batangas reported two fatalities – sisters Ana Marie Pansipane,7, and Ana May
Pansipane, 9, from Tanauan – who drowned.
Caloocan reported one dead but the victim could not yet be identified.
Affected persons in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and National
Capital Region were 267,850 families or 1,230,813 persons.
Displaced persons, who were outside and inside evacuation centers, were
163,007 families or 783,707 persons.
Meanwhile, there were a total of 90 municipalities in Ilocos, Central Luzon,
Calabarzon and NCR inundated by floods.
As of Tuesday 10 p.m., there were 126 impassable roads in Ilocos, Central
Luzon, Calabarzon, Western Visayas, Cordillera and NCR due to flooding.
Ipo, Ambuklao, Binga, San Roque and Magat also continued to open their gates,
while La Mesa Dam in Quezon City remained overflowing at 80.41 meters, over and
above its spilling level of 80.15 meters.
San Manuel, San Nicolas, Tayug, Sta Maris, Asingan, Villasis, Alcala,
Bautista, Rosales and Bayambang in Pangasinannwere likely to be affected when
these dams release water, as well as Ramon, San Mateo, Aurora, Cabanatuan, Luna,
Reins, Mercedes, Burgos, Naguilian and Gamu in Isabela; Norzagaray and Hangonoy
in Bulacan.
The Deparment of Social Welfare and Development released P12.92million worth
of relief assistance.
More than 5,000 personnel from the military, police and coast guard were
deployed for support, the NDRRMC said.
Declared under state of calamity were Laguna, Bataan, Pampanga and Zambales.
Metro Manila at a standstill Pagasa says worst not over
By DJ Yap, Julie M. Aurelio, Marlon Ramos Philippine Daily Inquirer
[PHOTO -RESCUE A Coast Guard member reaches out to rescue a man who
had clung to a tree for hours after swirling floodwaters swept him away along E.
Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City on Tuesday. MARIANNE
BERMUDEZ]
Nonstop monsoon rains left 80 percent of Metro Manila flooded on Tuesday,
forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and sparking recollections of
the calamitous Tropical Storm "Ondoy" in 2009.
Pagasa Administrator Nathaniel Servando said "the worst is not over for Metro
Manila," as the weather bureau expects the rains to continue well until
Wednesday.
"It may start to subside on Thursday," he said.
All cities in Metro Manila declared yesterday that there would be no classes
in all levels today. Classes are also suspended in the provinces of Bulacan,
Pampanga, Laguna and Cavite and the towns of Rodriguez and Cainta in Rizal
province.
Power was turned off in some parts of the metropolis as a precautionary
measure as the waters seeped into electrical facilities, Manila Electric Co.
said.
Yesterday, schools, financial markets and most government and private offices
were shut as key roadways in the metropolis were submerged by waters that in
some areas reached neck-deep level.
Police power
Malacañang invoked on Tuesday the "police power" of the state by suspending
work in both the public and private sectors in Metro Manila and nine nearby
provinces after torrential rains flooded many parts of Luzon.
Weather forecaster Bernie de Leon said that in the 24 hours to Tuesday
morning, 323 millimeters (13 inches) of rain fell on Metro Manila, compared with
the average monthly rainfall of 504 mm for August.
Fatalities
Nine persons, including a month-old baby, were killed when a landslide buried
their homes yesterday morning in Barangay Commonwealth in Quezon City at the
height of the heavy downpour.
Two were electrocuted, bringing the number of fatalities in the metropolis
and nearby provinces to at least 15.
Before the latest deluge, the death toll from eight days of sustained rains
brought on by Gener had reached 53 with more than 268,000 people forced to flee
their homes across the country.
Despite the torrential rains, flight operations at Ninoy Aquino International
Airport remained normal. However, dozens of air travelers were unable to make it
to their respective flights due to flooded roads leading to the airport's four
terminals. Only two flights were canceled on Tuesday due to bad weather.
Metro Manila's Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit train lines remained
open to the public on Tuesday despite heavy rains that caused flooding in many
parts of the capital.
Water world
Ramos said most of the submerged areas were in Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon,
Navotas and Valenzuela).
But widespread flooding was also experienced in Muntinlupa, Makati,
Parañaque, Quezon City, Marikina and Pasig, as well as in Calasiao in
Pangasinan, Meycauyan and Obando in Bulacan, Cardona in Rizal, Noveleta and
General Trias in Cavite, and 16 towns in Laguna.
"It was like water world," Ramos said, describing the scene in the capital on
Monday night. He said all cities in Metro Manila experienced flooding.
"If you're going to tally the number of areas affected, then almost the
entire metropolis was hit by floods," said Corazon Jimenez, general manager of
the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Many towns and cities in nearby provinces were also flooded.
Perched on rooftops
In low-lying areas, two-story houses were submerged as people perched on
rooftops awaited rescue or lay huddled in evacuation centers.
Rosario Brutas, a market vendor in Bacoor, Cavite, said she and her husband
woke on Tuesday to discover their home already partly submerged.
"We woke up before dawn to find our bed afloat," the 32-year-old said from a
hospital courtyard where her family and their neighbors had taken refuge.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson warned residents of several towns
around Laguna de Bay to prepare for possible evacuation due to rising waters of
the lake.
As of 11 p.m. on Monday, the NDRRMC said 808,697 people had been affected by
the heavy downpours across Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
Some 250,200 people, or 53,951 families, had been displaced from their homes,
with 18,692 persons staying at 85 evacuation centers in the three regions, the
NDRRMC said.
As if the flooding were not enough, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck off
Occidental Mindoro province Tuesday
[PHOTO -WATER TAXI Two women avoid the floodwaters with a smooth ride
on an improvised raft along De la Rosa Street in Makati City on Tuesday. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA].
The temblor was felt all the way to Pampanga province and Olongapo City in
Zambales province.
The quake occurred at 1:03 p.m. 25 kilometers southwest of Lubang, according
to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Fortunately, no damage was reported and Phivolcs said no aftershocks were
expected.
The deluge came despite the absence of storm signals following the departure
of Typhoon "Gener" over the weekend.
Unlike three years ago when Ondoy swamped the metropolis in a span of six
hours and killed 464 people, the rains since Monday had been virtually
unceasing.
"With Ondoy, the rain was heavier. This one is less intense but continuous,"
Executive Director Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDRRMC) said, expressing fear of landslides should the rains
keep up.
Ondoy Part 2
Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian described the extent of devastation
in the city as "definitely Ondoy Part II."
Throughout Tuesday, Gatchalian tweeted as he rode a six-wheel truck to
inspect the flooding. Gatchalian, @stgatchalian on Twitter, posted that the
flooded areas he passed—McArthur Highway, Maysan Road, T. Santiago Street,
Lingunan Portion—were not passable.
When the truck passed by North Luzon Expressway's stretch in Valenzuela, he
tweeted a photo of the highway submerged in about waist-deep floods. "Baha sa
NLEX… the highway is underwater," he said.
Gatchalian later tweeted: "This is a disaster. A lot of people calling for
rescue."
It was the same picture across the northern cities of Caloocan, Malabon and
Navotas, all of which had to deal with overflowing rivers such as the Tullahan
and Tinajeros Rivers, the constant rain, and an incoming high tide.
"All rivers and creeks in Valenzuela overflowed. The city is 40 percent
submerged," he said.
In Navotas City, 13 out of its 14 barangays (villages) were flooded as of
noon, with most areas either experiencing waist-or knee-deep floods.
Dams were at spilling level, or at least close to it, with Ipo Dam in
Bulacan, Ambuklao and Binga Dams in Benguet, and San Roque Dam in Pangasinan,
opening gates to release waters. Residents living near these dams were alerted
to possible increase in downstream water levels.
Officials were also keeping watch over La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, Angat Dam
in Bulacan, and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, which were registering increased
water levels.
Ramos expressed concern about what might occur if the rains continued.
"The problem is the rains had already soaked the ground. The soil is
saturated already, so there's nowhere for the water to go. If the rains
continue, there might be landslides and more flash floods," he said.
House near cliff
Police named the youngest fatality as Jonica Castulo when loose soil from a
small cliff collapsed atop her family's house in Barangay Commonwealth.
The landslide happened at a community on Bayanihan Street near Litex Road in
Barangay Bayanihan at around 7:30 a.m.
The victims' houses were built near a small cliff, but soil from the cliff
had softened overnight due to the continuous rains which pounded Metro Manila.
Watchman electrocuted
A security watchman wading through a flooded street in Quezon City at the
height of Tuesday's rains got the shock of his life.
Benjie Dumancil, 22, was electrocuted early Tuesday morning while walking
through an inundated portion of flood-prone G. Araneta Avenue at Barangay Doña
Imelda in Quezon City.
A man in Parañaque City was also electrocuted before dawn on Tuesday when he
tried to disconnect a sub-meter on an electric post.
When Jerwin Quijote, 32, a tricycle driver, fell from a water tank, he held
on to the nearest thing in front of him: live wires.
Free calls
Some of the country's largest corporations and conglomerates on Tuesday
mobilized their resources in response to the massive flooding.
Smart Communications and Globe Telecom Inc. said they had begun to offer free
call and text services in key areas and evacuation centers around the metropolis
and surrounding areas.
The San Miguel group said its Philippine Airlines subsidiary had waived
rebooking fees of passengers unable to take their flights Tuesday. Rebooking for
affected passengers would be subject to fare and booking class seat
availability.
The SM group said its malls would stay open, wherever possible, for customers
"looking for basic necessities or simply seeking alternatives venue for home
away from rains and floods."—With reports from Niña Calleja,
Leila B. Salaverria, Nathaniel R. Melican, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Jaymee T. Gamil,
Michael Lim Ubac, Jerome Aning, Paolo G. Montecillo, Amy Remo, Jeanette Andrade,
Kristine Alave, Cynthia Balana, Tarra Quismundo, Daxim L. Lucas and AFP
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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