MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – A total of 58 families or 142 individuals in La Union have been evacuated as of Wednesday morning due to flooding caused by heavy rainfall brought about by the Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Carina.
La Union Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Aureliano Rulloda III, in his report on Wednesday, said the evacuees were from villages in Bangar, Agoo, Bauang, Caba, Naguilian towns and San Fernando City.
“Individuals are being served inside five evacuation centers while 104 families or 333 individuals are being served outside evacuation centers,” he said.
Road sections in Barangay Wallayan in Bagulin town, Ambaracao Norte in Naguilian town, and two villages roads in San Fernando City as well as the Suguingan Bridge in Naguilian town are not passable due to landslides and soil erosion.
While 18 other road sections have been cleared and are passable, the report said.
Classes have been suspended in the towns of Balaoan, Luna, Tubao, San Gabriel, Bagulin, Bacnotan, and San Fernando City. Work in government offices, except for frontline services, are also suspended in Balaoan, Luna, Bagulin, Naguilian, San Gabriel, Bacnotan, Bangar, and San Fernando City.
Rulloda said the province of La Union has activated its emergency operation center, deployed teams, and readied transport vehicle assets and stockpiles of food and non-food items.
He said the PDRRMO has raised the alert status to red since July 21, requesting all personnel to be on standby for possible mobilization and all equipment have been checked and ready for deployment.
Four teams each for Emergency Medical Services; Search, Rescue, and Retrieval; Surveillance; 911 Emergency Telecommunications; and the Incident Management Team have been deployed.
In Pangasinan, there are no reports of flooding and evacuations yet, PDRRMO operations and training head Vincent Chu said in a phone interview.
A village in Sual town experienced landslide and is not passable at the moment but there were no affected individuals, he said.
Chu said they have already given advisory to the low-lying villages to abide by the possible preemptive evacuation or forced evacuation if needed.
“The river systems are still at the normal level but we are monitoring water coming from nearby provinces like Tarlac and Benguet as they have tributaries that might affect the Agno River system,” he added.
Chu said that if the heavy downpour persists, it might bring 50 to 100 millimeters of rain in the province.
The local government units (LGUs) of Mangatarem, Burgos, Bolinao, Manaoag, Infanta, Mabini, and Sta. Barbara suspended classes due to the inclement weather.
“We are continuously monitoring and coordinating even with other provinces. We are prepared with our personnel and water assets for augmentation to the LGUs if needed,” he said.
Based on the 11 a.m. bulletin of the state weather bureau on Wednesday, the eye of Typhoon Carina is at 345 kilometers north northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, with maximum wind of 165 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gustiness of 205 km/h moving North Northwestward at 15 km/h. (PNA)
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