State of calamity up in Pampanga

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Gov. Mark Lapid has declared a state of calamity in the province where 507 barangays in 15 municipalities remained flooded as heavy rains continued to pound wide areas of Central Luzon yesterday.

Floods across the region have destroyed about P57.7 million worth of palay crops and P1.6 million worth of corn crops, Redentor Gatus, assistant regional director of the Department of Agriculture (DA), told The STAR.

Pampanga suffered the most with some P32.96 million worth of palay crops destroyed.

In Zambales, infrastructure damage was placed at about P10 million when a 200-meter stretch of an earth dike along the Maculcul River in San Narciso, Zambales collapsed last Tuesday, unleashing floodwaters to the poblacion (town proper) and the barangays of San Pascual, Gulio, Namantakan, La Paz, Alusiis, Libertad, Cadela, and San Juan, said Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) director Ramon Aquino.

Lapid led the distribution of relief goods to affected families here and in the towns of Guagua, Sasmuan, Masantol, Minalin, Arayat, Bacolor, Mexico, Macabebe, Sta. Ana, Lubao, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca, Candaba, and San Simon.

The Pampanga provincial disaster coordinating council reported that one Mark Herald Guevarra, 17, a resident of Madapdap, Mabalacat town, remained missing after he was swept away by strong current in Barangay Lagundi, Mexico town last Wednesday.

Gatus said heavy rains spawned by typhoons "Florita" and "Glenda" and the subsequent floodings have destroyed P59.7 million worth of palay crops and P1.58 million worth of corn crops across Central Luzon.

The breakdown of palay losses: Pampanga, P32.96 million; Tarlac, P13.5 million; Nueva Ecija, P4.8 million; Aurora, P2.5 million; Bataan, P615,000; Bulacan, P231,000; and Zambales, P97,000.

In corn crop losses, the breakdown: Tarlac, P720,739; Pampanga, P505,864; Bataan, P225,995; Aurora, P136,879; Zambales, P57,566; and Bulacan, P56,320.

Aquino said he sent some 5,000 sacks for the sandbagging of the breached portion of the Maculcul dike.

"It is a palliative measure since we cannot yet fully repair the damage due to the dangerous current," he said.

"When it is no longer dangerous to move in, we will create a pilot channel that will drain back the waters from the populated areas toward the river," he added.

Aquino said the P240-million new bridge being built across the Maculcul River was not damaged.

In Dinalupihan, Bataan, the DPWH rerouted traffic along the MacArthur Highway after a dike in Barangay Layak was breached, flooding the Kilometer 101 area.

A kilometer-long traffic jam built up there as floodwaters rose Tuesday night, prompting authorities to reroute traffic through Sta. Rita and Floridablanca towns in Pampanga.

But Aquino said the flooded highway stretch was opened to heavy vehicles yesterday after an eroded section of Kilometer 101 was filled with gravel and secured with sandbags.

Aquino said Kilometer 74 of the MacArthur Highway in Mexico, Pampanga remained impassable to light vehicles yesterday due to the strong current.

Meanwhile, Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr. asked the DPWH yesterday to rush the sandbagging of breached dikes along the Balsik River in Dinalupihan town and help determine the extent of flood damage when the floodwaters recede in the barangays of Daang Bago, Sta. Isabel, Layac, Balsik and Pagalanggang.

Garcia also asked government engineers to check if dredging equipment and barges could be deployed in the Almacen River in Hermosa town to hasten the desilting of the river and thus mitigate the flooding in low-lying areas in northern Bataan towns.

Reports said floodwaters have receded in 20 barangays in Dinalupihan and Hermosa towns. Dinalupihan officials earlier declared a state of calamity. — With Ric Sapnu and Raffy Viray