Dagupan’s 11 barangays severely flooded
UNDER STATE OF CALAMITY
THE Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) could not have approved the resolution proposed by City Mayor Belen Fernandez placing Dagupan under the state of calamity more dramatically when it held its regular session in its cramped ante room during the blackout.
Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo proposed the resolution taking into account the adverse effects of strong winds that caused storm surge that destroyed many houses and felled electric poles, followed by heavy rains, that flooded many low-lying areas in the city.
The flood was exacerbated by the rise of water in rivers affecting nearby villages, prompting the evacuation of residents to various evacuation areas previously designated by the City Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The howlers toppled down some 30 concrete electric poles of the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) along the Jose R. de Venecia Expressway where major power lines are located, closing down the whole stretch for days to allow Decorp to retrieve and restore its damaged facilities.
The storm surge that happened Oct. 19 to 20 forced the evacuation of some 500 families, mostly along the coastal areas of Bonuan Gueset, Bonuan Boquig and Bonuan Binloc.
The declaration of a state of calamity authorized the city government as well as the barangays to mobilize 30 percent of their calamity funds of five percent in their annual budgets to be used as quick response fund.
It also empowered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to freeze prices of basic commodities not beyond their pre-disaster level and give a chance for workers to obtain calamity loans from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS) and Pag-Ibig.
Mayor Fernandez suspended classes in all levels in both public and private schools from Oct. 19 to give way to clearing operations. On Oct. 22, to 23, only classes in pre-school to high school remained suspended.
As of Wednesday, Oct. 21, floodwater caused by the continuous swelling of the Pantal River was still rising in Malued, Bacayao Sur, Bacayao Norte, Mayombo, Lasip Grande. Lasip Chico, Pogo Grande, Herrero Perez, Pantal, Salisay and Mangin.
All the 31 barangays of Dagupan were battered by Typhoon “Lando” but eight were considered as the worst affected, said Mayor Fernandez who personally led the conduct of rescue operations and the post-disaster assessment.
Most affected commodity was bangus which had to be harvested from fish pens and ponds at the height of the typhoon causing the price to slide down to P30 per kilo sold by vendors beside fish ponds along the Bonuan road. (Leonardo Micua)
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