Flood alert raised in 5 Pampanga towns

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga , Philippines  – Although the weather was sunny, more than 400 residents in a barangay in Bacolor town had to flee to higher ground, while those in five other towns were alerted as floodwaters continued to rise.

Filipinas Sevilla, chief of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), said at least 435 residents of Barangay Mesalipit, Bacolor sought refuge on a higher section of a dike after floodwaters swelled to as high as five feet Monday afternoon.

“The alert level was again raised to warn those living near waterways, especially the Pampanga River, on the danger of floodwaters (coming) from higher areas,” she said.

The alert was hoisted in San Luis, San Simon, Apalit, Candaba and Arayat towns where floodwaters swelled to as high as seven to 13 feet, she said.

Seventy-four barangays in 11 towns in Pampanga are still submerged, she said.

In San Simon, two residents died of electrocution, police said. Aries Nuguid, 25, visited his flooded home in Barangay San Miguel to get some belongings but got electrocuted, while Grade 3 pupil Clouie John Barona, 10, was wading in a flooded street when he accidentally touched an electrical post.

Sevilla said they have dispatched a team to investigate the sudden flooding in Barangay Mesalipit in Bacolor.

“That area is not affected by water coming from areas affected by the release of water from Pantabangan Dam, so we are looking into the source of the sudden flooding,” she said.

Sevilla cited reports that the alert raised in areas affected by the Chico River in Nueva Ecija has been lifted, although water from the river has already reached the Pampanga River, thus worsening the flooding in Pampanga.   

In Bulacan, PDCC officer Elsa Austria said heavy flooding in 21 barangays in Calumpit and 14 more in Hagonoy was expected to persist in the next five days as these towns have become catch basins for floodwaters from higher places in Nueva Ecija, including those affected by the release of water from the Pantabangan Dam.

Elsewhere in the province, however, floodwaters have receded.   – With Ric Sapnu