Tarlac dike caves in

TARLAC CITY — Some 12,000 residents of 15 villages in the northern Tarlac town of Paniqui were evacuated by helicopter and rubber boats yesterday after floodwaters breached an earth dike along the Tarlac River.

Among those airlifted were Paniqui Vice Mayor Joy Gilbert Lamorena and companion Ruperto Ian Monte who were trapped for eight hours on the roof of a piggery farmhouse.

Late Thursday night, the two led personnel of the local disaster council in going from house to house to tell residents along the Tarlac River to evacuate after they learned that the earth dike was caving in.

In Bulacan, meanwhile, 96 barangays in 15 towns remained flooded, affecting 9,767 families or 47,619 people. — Benjie Villa, James Mananghaya