‘Pepito’ generates floods in Luzon

A portion of the houses at Sampaguita Extension in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City on October 20, 2020, which has been declared by city officials as prone to erosion and is no longer safe for residents, especially when there is continuous rain .
RESEARCH PHOTO / NINO JESUS ​​ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical depression “Pepito” intensified into a tropical storm on Tuesday, causing heavy rains that caused flooding in several areas of Luzon. Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba ordered the evacuation of villagers in low-lying areas and sent rescuers into the floods. Communities prone to incessant rains submerged the village of Gagabutan in the city of Rizal.

Floods were also reported in nine villages in the city of López, Quezon province, as well as parts of the cities of Calauag and Tagkawayan on Tuesday.

Pepito (international name: Saudel) was expected to make landfall in Aurora or Isabela province on Tuesday night, moving west through Luzon with winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 90 kph. , according to the Philippine Atmospheric. , Administration of Geophysical and Astronomical Services (Pagasa).

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, it was tracked 110 km east of Baler, Aurora.

Storm signs

Signal No. 2 was hoisted over the provinces of La Unión, Ifugao, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Aurora, the southern portion of Isabela, the southern portion of Ilocos Sur, the northern portion of Zambales , and northern portion of Quezon.

Signal No. 1 was raised over Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Metro Manila, Rizal, the northern portion of Camarines Norte, the remainder of the northern portion of Quezon, and the rest of Zambales.

In Isabela, the residents of the coastal towns of Palanan and Dinapigue and the eastern towns of Echague, Jones, San Agustín and San Mariano were warned of possible floods and landslides.

The Talolong River in López, Quezón, overflowed due to the swell of seawater brought in by high tide around 5 am on Tuesday. “But the water dropped around 8 am,” said Jimar Marjalinao of the municipal disaster management office.

In Pampanga, at least 37 villages in the coastal cities of Masantol and Macabebe were already flooded even before Pepito hit a large part of Luzon. The provincial council for disaster risk reduction and management said high tide and monsoon rain caused the floods.

Local governments were preparing evacuation centers in Pangasinan, Pampanga and Quezón provinces.

Dam water levels

Water was released from the Binga dam in Benguet province at 3 pm Tuesday due to continued rain. The stock in the dam was 574.32 meters above sea level (masl), approaching its maximum operating mark of 575 masl.

The Ambuklao, Angat and Ipo dams had water levels still below their maximum operating levels.

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) said it was monitoring the lake’s water, warning that a critical level could lead to shoreline flooding.

As of Tuesday, the lake’s water level was 11.80 meters, 0.45 meters higher than the baseline, Emil Hernández of the environmental regulations department said, adding that it was still within the normal range.

Once the water rises to its critical level of 12.50 meters, flooding is expected in the lakefront areas in Laguna, Rizal and Metro Manila.

On Tuesday, Pepito continued to move west-northwest at 30 kilometers per hour and was expected to break out over the Western Philippine Sea on Wednesday, where it could further strengthen into a severe tropical storm the following day.

Pagasa warned that the storm is forecast to pass over the upper area of ​​the Pampanga river basin, bringing light to moderate rains, sometimes heavy, through Wednesday.

Residents should expect a “slow to gradual rise” of the Upper Pampanga River, including its major tributaries, such as Coronel, Digmala, Penaranda, Talavera and Río Chico.

“The rivers and tributaries within the Pasac-Guagua sub-basin are also likely to increase slowly but remain below the bank’s capacity,” the meteorological office said.

–Reports from Villamor Visaya Jr., Yolanda Sotelo, Tonette Orejas, Kimberlie Quitasol, Armand Galang, Maricar Cinco, Delfin T. Mallari Jr. and Jhesset O. Enano

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