124 barangays in Pampanga remain flooded after Ulysses

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — Typhoon Ulysses is gone, but flooding in low-lying areas in this province has continued as waters dumped by heavy rains in higher areas flowed into 124 barangays in 14 already inundated towns and cities.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) here reported partial estimated damage to agriculture at P24 million.

The PDRRMO said all 26 low-lying barangays in Masantol as well as 21 barangays in neighboring Macabebe have been submerged in floodwaters for weeks now since Typhoon Quinta.

In San Luis town,  11 barangays were inundated after local creeks overflowed.

Flooding was also reported in 31 barangays of Candaba, three in Santo Tomas, four in San Simon, six in this capital city, five in Apalit,  nine in Minalin, two in Sasmuan, two in Arayat and one in Mexico.

In Guagua, floods were reported rising in several barangays, amid panic created by a Facebook post shared at least 4,000 times as of noon yesterday, asking local folk to prepare anytime for evacuation as a huge volume of floodwater from higher ground in other provinces was coming.

Gov. Dennis Pineda said, however, that the PDRRMO had not issued the advisory.

Pineda led yesterday the distribution of 3,500 relief packs to displaced families in San Luis, 8,000 in Candaba, 5,000 in Apalit and 8,000 in San Simon. Each pack contained five kilos of rice, four cans of sardines and four cans of corned beef.

Partial reports said some P22 million worth of various crops were damaged in Porac, Guagua, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, San Simon, Sto. Tomas, Candaba and Minalin.

The Pampanga River Flood Forecasting and Monitoring Center noted that river volume reached alert levels in the towns of Zaragoza and Peñaranda in Nueva Ecija and in Arayat and Candaba in Pampanga. It said this could worsen flooding in Masantol and Macabebe.