Camanava still flooded

A portion of a barangay in Valenzuela City went under eight-feet of floodwaters yesterday morning while several barangays in Northern Metro Manila remained flooded due to rains brough about by tropical depression "Jolina".

There were no reported death or injuries in the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Velenzuela (Camanava) area, which often goes underwater during the rainy season due to its low elevation, compounded by poor drainage systems and a serious garbage problem. Only in Caloocan had floodwaters completely subsided.

Some 30 families refused to be evacuated even as floods reaching eight-foot deep has submerged their homes in the Bukid Area of Villa Pariancillo in Valenzuela City bordering Obando, Bulacan, said Juvenette Buenafe of the city’s Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office.

"They just sought shelter in the tallest house in the area," Buenafe said, adding that reports reaching the DSWD office indicated that only the houses’ roofs could be seen.

Buenafe said that this area has become a catch-basin for Villa Pariancillo. The rest of the barangay still has floods reaching knee-level.

The DSWD has distributed relief goods such as rice and canned goods to the affected families, she added.

Aside from Villa Pariancillo, the other barangays with knee to waist-deep floods were barangays Palasan, Mabolo, Wawang Pulo, Isla, Coloong I and 2, Polo, Bisig, Tagalag, Balangkas, and Pasolo, all in the city’s first district. – Nikko Dizon