Hundreds of families evacuated as Marikina River reaches critical level

MANILA, Philippines - Hundreds of families living along Marikina River were evacuated as its water went as high as the critical level of 19 meters on Tuesday afternoon.

The Marikina City public information office said the water level went up to 19 meters at 5:34 p.m. Four hours after the water level subsided to 18.3 meters.

As of 11:45 p.m., the river's water level was down to 17.4 meters and continues to subside as the torrential rains have ceased for several hours.

ABISO Marikenyo>>> #Marikinariver 17.4m as of 11:45pm ( subsiding )

— PIO Marikina (@MarikinaPIO) August 20, 2013

Alert Level 3 remains in effect, which means residents are still urged to evacuate.

The Marikina City local government ordered a forced evacuation of the residents along the river.

As of 6:50 p.m., a total of 5,568 persons or 1,154 families have been evacuated to the H. Bautista Elementary School.

Earlier data posted by the Marikina City public information office on the number of evacuees showed that 1,734 families were brought to nine other temporary shelters within the city.