‘Josie’ exiting; ‘habagat’ spawns flood calamity

Tropical depression “Josie” is already on its way out of the country but will continue to induce southwest monsoon or habagat rains over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas this Monday.

According to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather specialist Ezra Bulquerin, Josie was already traversing the Bashi Channel on its way outside the country’s area of responsibility before Sunday noon.

Its location was estimated at 170 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 60 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 75 kph.

Josie is forecast to move northnortheast at 25 kph and will be outside the country’s area of

responsibility by Monday afternoon or evening, Bulquerin said.

Signal No. 1 remains hoisted over Batanes and Babuyan group of islands around Sunday noon. These areas will continue to experience occasional rains with gusty winds.

Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon will bring scattered to widespread monsoon rains over Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, rest of Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Cavite, Batangas, Rizal, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and northern Palawan including Calamian group of islands.

It reminded the public, especially those living near river channels, and in low-lying and mountainous areas to be on alert for possible flash flood or landslide.

Flood calamity Torrential rains throughout the week have inundated low-lying areas in Regions 1, 3, 4-A and the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing local governments to declare a state of calamity in their respective areas.

Yesterday, Governor Jesus Crispin C. Remulla declared a state of calamity in the entire province of Cavite in Region 4-A, citing the devastating floods and damage from the “habagat” or southwest monsoon which had been intensified by tropical cyclones “Henry,” “Inday, and lately “Josie.”

Pangasinan also experienced its worst flooding in many years with 18 of its towns under water over the weekend.

Avenix Arenas, spokesperson of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) in Pangasinan said a state of calamity has already been declared in Dagupan City, San Carlos City, Sta. Barbara, Bugallon, Mangatarem, and Calasiao.

A total of 1,291 families or 5,067 individuals all over the province have temporarily evacuated their homes due to severe flooding, Arenas said.

Meanwhile, the PDRRMO led by Governor Amado Espino III, which is on red alert status since Saturday morning, continues to conduct rescue operations and close monitoring together with augmentation from concerned government agencies.

In Bataan, flood waters went as high as eight feet in Balanga City, paralyzing transportation and forcing the provincial government to declare a suspension of classes on all levels in both public and private schools for today.

Local governments in low-lying towns and cities of the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, and Pampanga were also bracing for a declaration of a state of calamity and suspension of classes due to rising flood waters.

In Nueva Ecija, the municipal government of Licab said 4,000 families in 10 out of its 11 agricultural villages have been trapped in their houses and evacuation centers due to flooding.

In Bulacan, Paombong and Pulilan were experiencing the worst flooding in three years and fear a repeat being under water for weeks due to back floods coming from Nueva Ecija and the Candaba swamp in Pampanga as what happened in 2015.

Bulacan First District Representative Jose Antonio R. Sy-Alvarado said disaster and local government officials continued to monitor the Pampanga river basin l and water level stations, and likewise monitoring the riverside areas of Hagonoy, Paombong, Plaridel and Pulilan, for appropriate action.

2 deaths in Antique

A huge volume of cascading soil from a hill buried a house in Barbaza town of Antique and killed two siblings who were sleeping inside, casualties attributed to monsoon rains intensified by tropical depression Josie.

A spot report from the Police Regional Office (PRO-6) identified the victims as six-year-old Rosalia Samillano Agapito and three-year-old Andrew Samillano Agapito.

Based on initial investigation, the brother and sister were sleeping inside their house at a hilly portion of Binanuan village when soil eroded and enveloped their house past 3 a.m of Sunday.

Evacuation and damage

The number of affected persons due to the incessant monsoon rains has reached 224,000, mostly from Luzon and Western Visayas.

As of 5 a.m. Sunday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that 2,798 families or 13,888 persons have already evacuated and are now seeking temporary shelter in 98 evacuation centers set up by local government units (LGUs) in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, National Capital Region, Southern Luzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Meanwhile, 57,545 families or 210,192 persons from Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and Western Visayas are staying with their relatives and friends.

Of the total number of evacuation centers, Central Luzon has 49 while Northern Luzon has 34.

DSWD’s field office in Central Luzon continues to monitor and coordinate with its provincial extension offices in the seven affected provinces on the status of relief operations in the areas.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that more than P259 million worth of damage to infrastructure and agriculture have been recorded so far. (With reports from Liezle Basa Iñigo, Anthony Giron, Freddie C. Velez, Mar T. Supnad, Ariel Avendaño, Tara Yap, Aaron Recuenco, and Francis T. Wakefield)