Floods isolate villages in Aurora, C. Valley

BALER, Aurora — Heavy rains in the past days have triggered flash floods, isolating villages in central Aurora and Cagayan Valley and threatening other low-lying communities in Northern and Central Luzon, authorities said.

Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara said the state of calamity she declared early this year will continue indefinitely after flash floods again isolated some 70,000 villagers in three northern towns.

Angara told The STAR that strong currents from overflowing rivers again washed away repaired portions of the highway linking central Aurora and the towns of Dingalan, Casiguran and Dilasag.

She said the heavy rains since Wednesday triggered heavy flooding in the towns of Casiguran, Dingalan and San Luis.

She quoted unconfirmed reports that a resident was missing in Barangay Paltik, Dingalan town.

At about 3 a.m. yesterday, Angara said residents of Sitio Gabgab in Barangay Bungabon in Baler fled to the municipal hall as floodwaters swept through their homes, reaching up to the roofs. The floodwaters, however, subsided by noon.

In Casiguran, almost all its 25 barangays remained flooded as of yesterday afternoon.

In Cagayan Valley, meanwhile, floodwaters have isolated seven of at least 25 towns heavily flooded by days of continuous downpour.

Engineer Rodolfo Alday, regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways, identified the isolated towns as Tuao and Baggao in Cagayan; Jones, San Agustin, Sta. Maria and Dinapigue in Isabela; and Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya.

He said thousands of motorists and commuters were stranded yesterday due to mudslides on some portions of the national highway from Nueva Vizcaya to Cagayan, especially in Barangay Nagsabaran, Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya.

Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, Cagayan Valley police director, said excess water was released from the Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela, worsening the flooding in the affected areas.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said waist-deep, muddy floodwaters have swept through parts of Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, forcing about 15,000 residents to evacuate.

In Tabuk, Kalinga, 24 families in low-lying barangays had to flee to safer grounds, while in Abra, officials warned residents of the swelling of the Abra River. — With Ric Sapnu, Artemio Dumlao and Jaime Laude