34 towns, 3 cities flooded
THE 10/9 PANGASINAN DELUGE
LINGAYEN–Twenty-two persons drowned at the height of the widespread flood spawned by the heavy rains of Typhoon “Pepeng” and the sudden release of huge volume of water of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Project (SRMP) in San Manuel.
A report of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) showed that the flood, considered as the worst ever in the province post-war, affected 34 towns and three cities in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth districts of Pangasinan.
The flood affected 117,210 families comprising 618,700 persons in 627 barangays in the province that saw the evacuation of some 18,695 families or 62,618 persons. The number of evacuation centers set up was 119.
Initial damages reported by the PDCC showed damages to infrastructure was placed at P181.25 million, P1.4 Billion on rice, P1.4 Billion on Corn; P160 million on vegetables, P96.4 million on fisheries; and P1.13 million on livestock.
The towns that were quickly inundated were San Manuel, Asingan, Tayug, Sta. Maria, Rosales, Sto. Tomas, Villasis, Alcala, Bautista, Bayambang, Basista, San Carlos, Urbiztondo, Mangatarem, Aguilar, Bugallon, Lingayen and Labrador, all situated near the Agno River.
The floodwaters later swamped Urdaneta, Sta. Barbara, Calasiao, and Dagupan all situated along the Sinucalan-Pantal River System; Natividad, Umingan, Balungao, San Quintin, along the Viray-Dipalo River; San Nicolas and Tayug, all situated along the Ambayoan River; and Sison, Pozorrubio, Binalonan, Laoac, Manaoag, San Jacinto, Mangaldan and San Fabian, along the Bued, Aloragat River system
SAN ROQUE DAM RELEASES
The San Roque Dam began releasing water to the lowlands at 8:00 a.m. Thursday by opening three gates at one meter each, which was increased to six gates by 15 meters at past noon.
This was again increased to six gates by 21 meters at dawn of Friday, spilling down 5,361 cubic meters of water per second to the lowland, then increased to 5,600 cubic meters per second a few hours later.
Rosales was among the worst affected towns of Pangasinan when the flood control dike in Barangay Tumana collapsed, flooding 90 per cent of the entire town. The newly opened SM City Rosales Mall, where 1,000 persons were trapped at the building’s second floor, literally developed into a lake inside a building.
Up until Sunday, hundreds of families in Rosales remained in evacuation centers since their homes had been completely washed away by surging mud waters.
Governor Amado Espino Jr. confirmed that the Agat Bridge connecting Sison, Pangasinan and Rosario, La Union collapsed due the rampaging waters of the Bued River. The governor said that there was an unconfirmed report that five persons drowned in Sison.
The dike in the Villasis side was also washed out, flooding 60 percent of the whole municipality.
Other dikes that were washed out included those in Binmaley Bayambang and Alcala and in San Fabian.
Dismayed by the failure of responsible agencies in managing the water of San Roque, Gov. Espino accused the San Roque officials for having dilly-dallied in releasing the water and waited for the dam’s reservoir to reach its peak.
San Roque contains all the water being released by the Ambuklao and Binga dams in the Upper Agno River Basin.
The governor stressed that even before water released by San Roque Dam could reach Pangasinan, towns of Pozorrubio, San Jacinto, Mangaldan and San Fabian were already flooded, and their situation was therefore compounded by the releasing of water by San Roque Dam.
RESCUE EFFORTS
Even before the full impact of the devastation could be felt, Gov. Espino issued appealed to several government agencies to help rescue residents in their respective rooftops.
Among those that readily responded were the Naval Forces Northern Luzon, Regional Mobile Group, Philippine Navy, Philippine Army, Philippine Marines, Coast Guard, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the US Navy which sent USS Tortoga and USS Harper Perry to the Lingayen Gulf to also help in search and rescue operations.
MAGNITUDE OF DEVASTATION
The Bued River rampaged through San Fabian and eroded large tracks of land, including 25 houses erected in Barangay Binday.
In Dagupan City, flood reached up to five to six feet in Mangin, Malued, Mayombo and Caranglaan, that prompted the City Disaster Coordinating Council to evacuate residents to the city astrodome and other designated evacuation centers.
At the height of confusion last Friday, pranksters circulated a text message advising public of the impending collapsed of the San Roque Dam.
The hoax report was instantly denied by Tomas Valdez, a vice president of the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC), the company that manages the dam. -LM
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