Floods submerge 19 of 48 Pangasinan towns, cities

Nineteen of Pangasinan province’s 48 towns and cities are now flooded due to continuous rains brought by tropical depression “Pepeng," the provincial government said Thursday. Provincial administrator Rafael Baraan said the 19 flooded municipalities in the province are made up of 115 villages. The most flooded area in the province was San Fabian town, according to Gov. Amado Espino Jr.’s spokesman, Butch Velasco. Around 4,000 people have already been evacuated from the town, where flood water has reached the roofs. He appealed to the national government and non-government organizations to send in rubber boats for rescue and evacuation, as the local government’s equipment is not enough. Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a radio interview with dzBB that the flood situation not only in Pangasinan but in the rest of northern Luzon has begun “turning from bad to worse." "That's why (Commodore Luis Alano) is asking for reinforcement already para madagdagan ang tropa ng Navy sa lugar na yan (so we can add to the Navy troops in that area)," said Arevalo. Rescue operations have already been launched in parts of Pozorrubio, Asingan, Umingan, San Isidro, San Nicolas, Natividad, Mangaldan, and Tayug. Supt. Wilson Lopez, chief of operations and plans division of the provincial police, said they are still confirming reports of casualties in the affected towns and cities. Aside from the nonstop downpour, floods in the province have likewise been aggravated by the opening of six San Roque Dam floodgates to release water and thus prevent the reservoir from reaching the critical level. Baraan said the San Roque Dam is currently releasing 3,150 cubic meters of water per second. Other dams that have released water in the last few days include Angat, Pantabangan, and Ambuklao, Magat, and Binga dams. – Johanna Camille Sisante with Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV