MMDA sends flood barriers, mobile pumps to NLEX

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is continuing to help ease flooding in San Simon, Pampanga along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) by deploying mobile pumps and L-shaped barriers, according to MMDA Chairman Don Artes.

The deployment since Aug. 31 was made to address the gridlock along NLEX caused by impassable sections due to floodwaters.

“We also have mobile pumping stations dispatched. Our mobile trucks have a capacity to pump one cubic meter per second from the roads,” MMDA general manager Nicolas Torre III said yesterday at a press conference.

The barriers, along with sandbags, were placed in critical sections of NLEX San Simon to control the flood from spilling over wider sections of the thoroughfare, MMDA explained.

NLEX personnel also deployed rapid flood barriers to contain the floodwater at the interchange.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said that the heavy downpour from the enhanced monsoon led to the flooding, which in turn resulted in the massive traffic jam.

The sandbags and plastic barriers scattered at the NLEX San Simon exit were not swept by floodwater, the NLEX Corp. clarified yesterday.

“The said materials were on standby. Those were excess materials from the first phase on the flood-mitigating works. The said materials were not left as after-works mess and are still being used in the ongoing flood-mitigating works in the area,” the tollway company told The STAR.

A report said the barriers and sandbags were seen scattered and displaced as motorists navigated the flooded section of the expressway.

The tollway company said that as of 1:05 p.m. yesterday, Lane 1 and 2 in Tulaoc, San Simon portion of the expressway were passable to all types of vehicles while Lane 3 was not passable. Traffic was light.

At the San Simon Interchange, Lane 1 was passable to all types of vehicles and Lane 2 was passable only to Class 2 and 3 vehicles and Lane 3 was not passable. It also has approximately one kilometer of traffic build-up.

Blocked waterways

In Bulacan, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) has initially identified five areas in the province that are being affected by floodwater due to blocked waterways.

During a coordination meeting with the governor on Thursday, PDRRMO head Manuel Lukban Jr. reported that the flooding in Barangays Longos and Bulihan in Malolos, Malis in Guiguinto, Panginay in Balagtas, Masuso in Pandi and Saluysoy in Meycauayan were caused by the obstruction of natural waterways caused by trees and vegetation; encroachment of informal settlers; heavily silted rivers and creeks; improper garbage disposal and obstructed, damaged or low-positioned culverts.

Other factors that led to blocked waterways were the absence or gaps in existing dikes and river walls, inadequate or sub-standard water pumps, narrow floodways and unmaintained floodgates.

The Bulacan PDRRMO is set to conduct a series of studies and assessments in other flood-prone barangays to determine their specific causes of flooding and identify the appropriate mitigation measures. — Ramon Efren Lazaro