Preemptive evacuation readied in Cagayan Valley

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines  – Civil defense authorities yesterday called on local government units in the region to get ready for preemptive evacuation of residents in flood- and landslide-prone areas, as typhoon “Ramil” is forecast to hit northern Luzon by Wednesday.  

This developed as the Magat Dam continued to release water from its reservoir as a preventive measure against structural damage due to overflow amid the intermittent rains in the past two weeks.

Melchito Castro, Cagayan Valley director of the Office of Civil Defense, said residents in the region’s danger zones, or those traditionally hit by floods and landslides, should be evacuated to prevent “unnecessary loss of lives.”

“Our foremost objective here is zero casualty,” he added.

Unlike in other areas in northern Luzon, the region, according to Castro, avoided the loss of lives during the onslaught of typhoon “Pepeng” as the OCD and the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council carried out precautionary measures and preemptive evacuation.

Although no Pepeng-related deaths were officially monitored in Cagayan Valley, the typhoon affected some 65,000 families or at least 350,000 people in the region, especially in Cagayan and Isabela.

Cagayan Valley also suffered at least P2 billion in agricultural losses and infrastructure damage, with Cagayan the worst hit in terms of crops destroyed.

Preemptive evacuation may be carried out in northern Isabela areas, including the capital town of Ilagan as well as the municipalities of San Pablo, Cabagan, Tumauini, Gamu, Santa Maria and Delfin Albano, the cities of Cauayan and Santiago, and areas downstream of the Magat Dam, including the Mallig plains. 

Some residents of the Cagayan towns of Solana, Peñablanca, Iguig, Aparri, Camalaniugan, Gonzaga, Buguey, Santa Teresita, Santa Ana, Amulung, Lasam and Gattaran, Tuguegarao City and communities along the Cagayan River may have to evacuate, too.  

Flood-prone towns in Nueva Vizcaya such as Bagabag, Solano, Bayombong and Bambang as well as landslide-prone areas in the towns of Quezon, Kayapa, Santa Fe and Kasibu have also been alerted for possible preemptive evacuation.

Meanwhile, officials of the Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela continued to release water as they wanted to maintain a maximum safe water level of 190 to 192 meters.

“We are avoiding reaching 193 meters, which is the dam’s critical level. But we are releasing water in calibrated volume to avoid floods in downstream areas,” said engineer Pelagio Gammad, manager of the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System.

Magat Dam officials said they alert local government units and residents at least three hours before any release of water. 

Constructed during the Marcos administration, the 30-year-old Magat Dam, which provides irrigation to some 90,000 hectares of farmlands in Isabela and parts of Cagayan, has become silted as a result of the 1990 earthquake.

As part of the government’s long-term rehabilitation plan for the Magat Dam, its power component, which is generating a maximum of 350 megawatts, the biggest power provider in the entire Luzon grid, was sold to the Norwegian-Philippine consortium SN-Aboitiz for $550 million in 2006.