THE local government units of Dagupan City, San Carlos City, Sta. Barbara, Bugallon, Mangatarem and Calasiao in Pangasinan have declared a state of calamity due to flooding.
Avenix Arenas, spokesman of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Pangasinan, said Sunday the whole of Calasiao had been flooded since Saturday while Dagupan City’s central business district and other villages were also flooded.
In other developments:
• Balanga City and the municipality of Dinalupihan in Bataan were placed under a state of calamity on Sunday after floods hit many villages.
In a Facebook post, the Philippine Information Agency said village officials in Balanga City were being mobilized to help in the possible evacuation of residents.
• Six municipalities in three provinces in Central Luzon are now under a state of calamity due to the continuing rain brought on by the enhanced southwest monsoon and high tide in the coastal areas.
The Sunday update of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Central Luzon said the areas under a state of calamity were the towns of Ramos, La Paz and Victoria in Tarlac, Marilao and Paombong in Bulacan and Masantol in Pampanga.
Dagupan City was the first to declare a state of calamity and it did so on Saturday.
A total of 1,291 families or 5,067 individuals all over the province have temporarily evacuated their homes due to severe flooding, Arenas said.
“Flooding might continue depending on the weather. If it continues to rain in the uplands like in Benguet, then we expect more water she said and added that the San Roque Dam had not yet released water.
As of 10 am Sunday, the water level at the San Roque Dam was at 263.95 meters above sea level against its 280 spilling level with no gates opened.
The national roads from San Carlos to Aguilar and Camiling to Bayambang remained impassable to all types of vehicles, while the national roads in Sta. Barbara to Dagupan City, Calasiao to Dagupan City, San Carlos to Urbiztondo, and Aguilar to Bugallon were impassable to light vehicles, officials said.
Meanwhile, the PDRRMO led by Gov. Amado Espino III, which is on red alert since Saturday morning, continues to conduct rescue operations and close monitoring of the situations in various areas.
“We target zero casualties as mandated by Governor Espino. We advised our fellow Pangasinenses to be on watch and follow the authorities in case there is the need for evacuation,” Arenas said.
Espino, in a radio interview Saturday, said they were still gathering data and assessing if there was a need to declare a state of calamity in the whole province.
The provincial government also asked Pangasinenses to pray.