Five days after storm, many communities are still flooded

As another storm barrels into the Philippines, many communities in the Mega Manila area remain underwater, unreached or under-reported. Five days after tropical storm 'Ondoy' dumped a record amount of rain on the metropolis, the full extent of the disaster is still unfolding. Parts of Marikina and Pasig in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna and Rizal remained flooded, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to remain in evacuation centers. In Cavite, the floods have subsided but residents were still cleaning up the mess and depending on relief supplies. A report by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said floodwaters in Marikina had receded in most areas but the damage to houses was extensive, while roads leading to the banks of the Marikina River were impassable due to debris and rubble.

Nearly the entire community of Barangay Silangan in Quezon City, where 31 were killed in the storm, remains in the barangay gym and other evacuation centers after the deluge destroyed most of the houses. Barangays Maybunga, Pinagbuhatan, and Palatiw in Pasig were still underwater, while eight out of nine barangays in Muntinlupa were also still flooded, especially Tunasan, Poblacion, and Putatan. The NDCC also said nine out of ten barangays in Pateros were also still submerged in floodwater. In Taguig, 24 out of 28 barangays suffered the same fate. Among those still flooded is the Pag-IBIG Homes in Cainta, Rizal. Cainta was among the towns that bore the brunt of flooding last Saturday following record rainfall that weather officials described as the worst in living memory. “Buong Pag-'IBIG ganito. Yung sa kalsada, hita to waist pero mas mataas pa sa loob ng bahay (The whole Pag-Ibig is like this. On the streets, the water's from leg to waist but it's higher inside the houses)," said 22-year-old Jennifer de Guzman, who has practically been living on the roof of her house since Saturday.

In Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig, water is still knee-high. This amateur video shot on Tuesday afternoon, Sept 29, by Marissa Altamirano shows Ondoy victims wading through flood during a relief mission with her church, Victory Christian Fellowship.

The flood reached the second floor of their home, forcing her, her parents and her younger sister to haul some of their furniture up to the roof, where they eat and do their laundry. As in many flooded places, Pag-IBIG Homes has had no electricity since Saturday, but De Guzman manages to send text messages because she wades in flood waters to get to a house in nearby Greenwoods Subdivision, where residents allow her to charge her phone. Because they own a sari-sari (variety) store, Jennifer's family subsists on junk food and other items available there. "Pero yung totoong pagkain, wala na (But we've run out of real food)," she said. Two other areas in Taytay, Rizal province with hundreds of evacuees remain inundated and could not be reached by relief and rescue teams, according to Ma. Theresa Rodriguez of the Philippine National Red Cross' East Rizal branch. These are sitios Tapayan and Arenda where at least 800 people stay in five to six evacuation centers. Rodriguez said even six-wheeler trucks could not enter the areas because the flood was chest-high. The areas could only be reached through boats. Still rising Ernesto Montecillo, Laguna’s provincial social welfare development officer, said the water levels in Laguna are not subsiding and may actually be rising. “Ganun pa rin, hindi nagsusubside ‘yung water, baha pa rin, medyo tumataas pa nga eh, (It’s still the same, the water has not yet subsided, it’s still flooded, it even seems to be rising)," he told GMANews.TV on Wednesday. Montecillo said some of the areas in Laguna are submerged in almost ten feet of floodwater, with those hardest hit including Biñan, San Pedro, Calamba, and Los Baños. The provincial official said a total of 75,717 families or almost 323,307 individuals were affected by Ondoy in Laguna. He added that 16,009 people are currently staying in 165 evacuation centers. He said most of the victims stay in their homes – despite being submerged in flood waters – during the day because there have been reports of looting. But for safety, the residents return to evacuation centers at night. The situation in Pasig is similar to Laguna’s, said Roman Romulo, the city's representative in Congress. “More or less meron pa ring mga lugar na baha (More or less there are still places that are flooded)," he told GMANews.TV on Wednesday. He said areas like Bambang, San Miguel, and San Nicolas remained flooded. Parts of Sandoval Avenue were still under knee-high flood on Wednesday, but Romulo said they have already been able to enter areas that were once impenetrable. “Sa ngayon hindi na rescue, more of assistance na (As of now, people don’t need to be rescued, they just need assistance)," said the lawmaker. Most of Bulacan is land again after vast areas were also submerged through the weekend, according to a provincial official. “Ngayon po ay tinutuloy po namin ang assessment ng damages pero wala na po halos tubig (We are assessing the extent of the damages right now but only a few places remain flooded)," Liz Mungcal, executive officer of Bulacan’s Disaster Management Council, told GMANews.TV on Wednesday. She said the remaining flood waters in some places in the province are caused by high tide and the gradual release of water from Angat Dam early Tuesday. One of those places is Meycauayan. “Sa may Calvario, Meycauayan baha pa rin, mahirap parin daanan. Tanghali lang nagkakuryente since Friday. Hanggang dibdib sa loob namin, lampas tao sa labas. Home theater at PC lang na save ko, lahat lubog at lutang na," said one resident, who declined to be identified. (It’s still flooded in Calvario, Meycauayan. Since Friday, we only have electricity during the afternoons. The flood inside our place is up to the chest, but it’s past a person outside. I was only able to save my PC, all the others were destroyed) Mungcal said other Bulacan towns hard-hit by the flood include Marilao, Bocaue, and Sta. Maria. Meanwhile, residents of Cavite are starting to breathe more easily. “Bumaba na yung putik at gabundok yung mga basura na nagkalat, di pa nalilinis. Maraming patay na ahas (The mud has subsided, leaving heaps of garbage that haven’t been cleared yet. There are many dead snakes)," a resident of Bacoor told GMANews.TV. More rains today The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Wednesday said rains expected to be caused by storm “Pepeng" (international code name “Parma") could spell more trouble for places hard hit by Ondoy’s floods. As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, "Pepeng" was in the Pacific Ocean at 940 km east of Surigao City. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gusts of up to 150 kph and moving west-northwest at 22 kph, Pagasa said. The weather disturbance was headed in the general direction of northern Luzon and Taiwan, which are expected to bear the full brunt of the storm. - with a report by Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV