La Mesa Dam overflows, families evacuated

Several families near Tullahan River in Metro Manila, including some in Quezon City, were evacuated from their homes after La Mesa Dam overflowed due to rain spawned by Typhoon Pedring (Nesat) before dawn Wednesday. Engineer Teddy Angeles, manager of La Mesa waterworks of Manila Water, said the water level exceeded the 80.15-meter level at 2 a.m. "As of 2 a.m., nag-umpisa na siya mag-overflow. Tapos 3 a.m., ang elevation is 80.17 (meters). We have a 2-cm overflow. (Pero) hindi siya gaanong makakaapekto for most residents along Tullahan except Malabon na kahapon pa baha na," Angeles said in an interview on dzBB radio. A separate report on dzBB radio indicated many residents near the Tullahan River were from Quezon City. It said that as early as 10 p.m. Tuesday, the La Mesa Dam management had alerted Barangay North Fairview of the need to evacuate. The report said many residents complied with the evacuation. But Angeles said there is no apparent danger for the rest of Quezon City and parts of Valenzuela City. He also said they expect the situation to normalize, now that weather conditions have improved and demand for water is expected to pick up within the day. "Hopefully as we go into this morning, demand for water is picking up, we expect elevation to stabilize and lower with improved weather," he said. But he said those who already evacuated their homes should wait for authorities' go-signal to go home. — RSJ, GMA News