Half of Pangasinan, 29 Calumpit villages go under water

Water released from Bustos dam as well as the typhoon and monsoon rains, aggravated by high tide, submerged 29 villages in Calumpit, Bulacan alone in floodwaters as high as four feet, affecting 16,577 families Monday. Hagonoy town also went under water from back floods coming from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. Calumpit and Hagonoy are perennial catch basins of back floods in Central Luzon.

Liz Mungcal of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said of the 16,577 affected families in Calumpit, only 84 families are in evacuation shelters. In Meycauayan City, 80 families from Barangay Gasak evacuatedto the Meycauayan Central School.

Due to the continuous heavy monsoon rains, a bridge located in the boundary of Brgy. BinagbagAngat and San Rafael, Bulacan collapsed.

The PDRRMO alsosaid a state of calamity has been declared in the towns of Paombong and Marilao.

Villages in the towns of Balagtas, Bocaue, Guiguinto, Obando and Pulilan are also flooded.

Residents attribute the flooding to clogged waterways caused by the construction of buildings and houses over ricefields. Many ricelands which were fully irrigated have reportedly been converted into big subdivisions most of which do not have proper drainage systems.

Another LPA Like Bulacan, the province of Pangasinan likewise suffered from massive flooding after the volume of rain equivalent to three months poured incessantly in only four days.

Governor Amado I. Espino, IIIsaid damage to agriculture and infrastructure has already breached the billion mark. And the estimates still do not include damage to fisheries.

Espino said half of the province is flooded severely affecting 300 barangays.

Monsoon rains will continue to prevail over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas, while a low pressure area (LPA) will likely enter the country’s area of responsibility within two to three days.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said scattered monsoon or habagat rains will affect Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro and Palawan.

Meanwhile, occasional monsoon rains will prevail over Metro Manila, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Aurora, Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo.

The rest of Luzon and the Visayas will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the southwest monsoon.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms will prevail across Mindanao.

According to PAGASA weather specialist Chris Perez, the LPA will possibly enter the country’s area of responsibility within two to three days.

It was estimated at 1,555 kilometers east of Northern Luzon Tuesday morning.

As it hovers over the Pacific Ocean, the LPA has a chance of developing into a tropical depression within 24 to 48 hours.