Tropical Depression 'Inday' to spawn more rains; 'Henry' leaves 3 dead

MANILA, Philippines — Residents in the western section of Luzon should brace for more rains from the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Depression Inday until the weekend, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.

Classes remained suspended in Metro Manila and nearby provinces yesterday as well as in some national and local government offices due to inclement weather brought by the southwest monsoon.

Three people reportedly drowned in separate incidents in Cagayan and Pangasinan during the heavy monsoon rains on Tuesday.

Initial reports identified the fatalities as Joshua Vincent Paulino, 15, from Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; Regine Thasis and Sunshine Cabus, both 13 years old from Lasam town in Cagayan.

PAGASA weather division chief Esperanza Cayanan said Inday, which developed from a low-pressure area yesterday, was expected to intensify into a tropical storm in the next 24 hours.

Cayanan, however, said the weather disturbance was not expected to make landfall in any part of the country.

Inday will continue to boost the southwest monsoon, which will bring intermittent moderate to occasional heavy monsoon rains over Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan until tomorrow.

PAGASA said the amount of rain that fell over Metro Manila since Tuesday to early yesterday was 142 millimeters, or a third of the deluge from Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana) in September 2009.

Ondoy dumped 455 mm over Metro Manila for over 24 hours.

Meanwhile, disaster response teams from various local government units in Central Luzon have started evacuating families in danger of being washed out by rushing floodwaters.

Central Luzon police regional director Chief Supt. Amador Corpus said rescue operations started on Tuesday as floodwaters began to rise in the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga and Zambales.

In Metro Manila, about 150 families took the initiative to move out to evacuation centers in Marikina City as disaster officials warned of the increasing water level of the Marikina River.

Officials said the water level reached 15.8 meters, triggering the 1st alarm to warn residents of the impending danger.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde ordered policemen nationwide to participate in search and rescue operations in areas affected by the monsoon rains.

“We have standby personnel for deployment for rescue operations all over the country. Our policemen trained for rescue operations are on standby,” he said.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported the number of displaced families in the last two days of widespread flooding in Southern Tagalog is now down to 380 yesterday from 964 the other day.

The OCD, however, noted several villages in Central Luzon are still flooded.

OCD reports showed nine villages in Macabebe, Pampanga are still flooded while five barangays in Abucay; three in Balanga City; three in Dinalupihan; four in Hermosa; one in Mariveles; Morong poblacion, eight in Orani; seven in Orion; one in Limay and one in Pilar, all in Bataan, also remained flooded.

In Zambales, ankle-deep flooding was monitored yesterday in Botolan; two barangays in Cabagan; one from San Felipe, one from San Narciso and five from San Marcelino town.

Also eight barangays in Meycauayan City, two in Bulakan, and two San Antonio towns, all in Bulacan province are still flooded with some up to half meter deep.

On the other hand, the OCD in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region also reported that flashfloods caused widespread destruction of crops in Mamburao, Magsaysay, and Abra de Ilog towns in Occidental Mindoro province.

In Western Visayas, the prevailing inclement weather resulted in coastal erosion due to strong waves in Sitio Baybay, Barangay Poblacion, in Belison, Antique. 

“Three houses were damaged which resulted in the evacuation of three families. They opted to stay with their neighors,” OCD spokesman Nelson Posadas said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Eva Visperas, Raymund Catindig, Edu Punay, Jose Rodel Clapano, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Emmanuel Tupas, Jaime Laude, Rainier Allan Ronda