Magat Dam’s water level normalizes; evacuees trek back home

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – Evacuated residents along the banks of Cagayan and Magat Rivers have begun trekking back home after authorities at the National Irrigation Administration – Magat River Integrated Irrigation System announced Friday morning that Magat Dam’s water level was back to normal. NIA-MARIIS operations manager Engineer Mariano Dancel said over a radio interview that the dam’s water volume has already stabilized at 193 meters, as rains over the landlocked provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao have stopped. The two provinces are located in Cagayan Valley’s watershed areas that supplies water to Magat River, Cagayan River’s largest tributary. Reaching a level of 193.01 meters, the dam’s gates were opened on Wednesday after days of incessant rains in the area pushed the reservoir’s water levels to spilling point. Dancel added that the dam’s current water inflow and outflow are now down to 850 cubic meters per second against Thursday’s more than 1,000 cubic meters per second. Colonel Loreto Magundayao, commanding officer of the Civil-Military Operations Battalion (CMO) of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division, told GMANews.TV that flood waters in some areas in Isabela have already receded, except for Santo Tomas town where relief operations are on going. "Affected residents here refuse to be brought to (evacuation) centers. We have no choice but to distribute relief goods," Magundayao said. Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera Administrative Region has reported that 600 families (or 2,910 people) from the villages of Babalag East, Daya East, Caloocan Amparo, and Rizal Public Market, all in Kalinga’s Rizal town; and 70 families (or 350 people) from Apayao province have already returned to their homes. This week’s continuous downpour over northern Luzon had triggered floods in several towns in the region. Reports indicate that Isabela’s capital town of Ilagan had suffered the heaviest toll. The rains also rendered nine bridges in Cagayan province and two in Isabela province impassable. In its 6 a.m. update, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that death toll from north Luzon rains already rises to seven, while two was reported missing. [See story: Death toll from north Luzon rains rises to 7] — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV