Back floods hit Bulacan town

CALUMPIT, Bulacan , Philippines  – Residents of this town began to feel the impact of back flooding as the rest of Central Luzon prepares for typhoon “Pepeng.”

The road leading to Hagonoy from this town was rendered impassable yesterday morning due to waist-high floodwaters.

Felicisima Mungcal, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Office (PDMO), confirmed that the flooding was caused by back floods of rainwater from upper eastern Central Luzon and the water released from Angat Dam.

“There is no high tide at this point, so it’s confirmed that what we have in Calumpit is back flooding,” Mungcal said.

The back flooding led residents of Barangays Calizon, Corazon and Sapang Bayan here to return to evacuation centers yesterday.

Meantime, the United Nations’ disaster prevention agency said yesterday that poor drainage systems and garbage disposal problems aggravated the impact of tropical storm “Ondoy” that struck the Philippines over the weekend as it stressed the need for governments to make greater investments before other catastrophes strike.

At least 246 people died because of Ondoy.

More than 730,000 people had to flee their homes and seek shelter in evacuation centers.

An eight-member UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team arrived yesterday in Manila to help local officials coordinate relief efforts, which have been focused on providing water, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as food stocks and health care.

Margareta Wahlstrom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, called for more actions to reduce the risks from disasters.

“Spending on disaster risk reduction is not a cost, but an investment for safer and more secure cities,” she said. “Under-investment in building and maintaining drains can trigger bigger disasters.” – With Pia Lee-Brago, Ric Sapnu