THE provincial government of Bulacan has recorded 5,239 Bulakenyos who left their homes and took shelter in various evacuation centers in the province to escape the onslaught of Super Typhoon ‘Karding’ since Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022.
Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office head Rowena Tiongson said a total of 117 evacuation centers sheltered 1,571 families, including 1,447 children and 231 senior citizens, all over the province.
Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando immediately responded and distributed family food packs and non-food items to the families temporarily sheltered at the Obando Municipal Hall on Monday morning.
Vice Gov. Alex Castro and Obando Mayor Leonardo Valeda also sent aid to the evacuees.
In an ambush interview by The Manila Times, Fernando said that he will also visit and deliver aid to the affected Bulakenyos in the municipalities of San Miguel, Dona Remedios Trinidad, Angat, San Ildefonso and San Rafael, which were all badly hit by Karding.
“Until the water recedes in their areas, we will not return the evacuees to their homes because it is still dangerous. We will go to them. We will prioritize those who were severely affected by the flooding and we will try to help the all those affected (Not until the flood has subsided, we will not allow the evacuees to return to their homes because it is still dangerous. We will come to them. We will first help the ones who were hit the hardest by the flood but we will try our best to help all those who are affected),” the governor said.
According to a report, 109 villages were submerged by 3 to 10 feet of floodwaters in the province.
The largest number of evacuees came from District 6 of Bulacan where eight villages in Sta. Maria town, six in Norzagaray and four in Angat were severely affected.
As of 7 am on Monday, Angat Dam’s water elevation was 184.07 meters, which is considered high while Ipo Dam is at 101.07 meters, which is within its minimum operating level.
The water level in Bustos Dam is at 16.22 meters.
1 missing in Pangasinan
In Pangasinan, one person was reported missing while more than 1,000 others living in high-risk areas were taken to different evacuation centers as Karding crossed Central Luzon on Sunday night.
Police said Bienvenido Sarmiento, 53, of Barangay Manambong Parte in Bayambang was reported missing by his daughter to the police on Sunday night.
Sarmiento left their house on Sunday morning to go fishing at the Mangabul Reservation, which is traversed by the Agno River, and had not returned home since then.
A report of the Department of Social Welfare and Development regional office showed that as of 7 am on Monday, September 26, some 252 families consisting of 1,044 individuals were taken to 19 evacuation centers in 10 Pangasinan towns and cities.
On the morning of the same day, most of those who evacuated had returned home.
Karding began to be felt in the province on Sunday afternoon when it dumped rains in the province. The wind whipped by the typhoon was felt at about 2 am also on Monday.
As of 7 am Monday, the water level in Pangasinan’s main river systems — the Agno River, Bued-Cayanga-Patalan River and Pantal-Sinocalan River — remained below alert status, according to the Agno River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Rosales town.
Because of this, the water levels at Binga, Ambuklao and San Roque dams did not reach spilling level.
Ambuklao and Binga are located upstream of the Agno River in Benguet province. Water spilled by Ambuklao is collected at the Binga dam below it, while the water spilled by Binga is caught by the San Roque Dam, which is downstream of the Agno River in San Manuel town in Pangasinan.
The local government of San Nicolas in the eastern part of Pangasinan announced on Monday that the Villa Verde Road is not passable due to landslides caused by Karding. The road connects Pangasinan to Nueva Vizcaya.
WITH REPORTS FROM GABRIEL CARDINOZA