Forced evacuation set as Marikina River reaches critical level

MANILA, Philippines - Forced evacuation is now being implemented as the water level of Marikina River reached its critical level before 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The Marikina City public information office announced through its Twitter account that alert level 4 has been raised as the water level at the river was already at 18 meters as of 2:45 p.m.

#marikinariver alarm is now sounding for 18m water level as of 2:45. FORCED EVACUATION.

— PIO Marikina (@MarikinaPIO) August 20, 2013

The city government has already evacuated 519 families or 2,630 persons to the H. Bautista Elementary School.

The water level at the river had subsided after a lull on the torrential rains on Monday night. The rains over Metro Manila, however, intensified again on Tuesday morning.

From Alert Level 1 in the morning, the alert level was immediately raised to 2 after the water level rose significantly before noon.

At 12:50 p.m., the Marikina River's water level increased to 17 meters.

According to the Marikina City local government's website, residents along the river particularly those in the critical areas of Malanday, Nangka and Tumana should already prepare for evacuation.

Alert Level 3, meanwhile, declares that all residents along the river should already evacuate.

Over 10,000 residents have already been evacuated since Monday, when the river's water level started to rise.

Number of Evacuees:

• H. Bautista Elementary School - 519 Families / 2,630 Persons (12:22pm)
• Filipinas Village Basketball Court - 117 Families / 606 Persons (1:50pm)
• Concepcion Integrated School - 25 Families / 153 Persons (10:40am)
• Nangka Elementary School - 770 Families / 2,600 Persons (1:23pm)
• Libis Bulelak Gym-149 Families/755 Persons (11:40am)
• Malanday Elementary School-400 Families /4,200 Persons (2:30pm)
• Sto Niño Elementary School-28 Families/ 105 Persons (1:25pm)
• Sampaguita Village, Malanday-131Families/ 667Persons (1:50pm)
• Baranggay Multi Purpose Hall (Brgy. Dela Peña)-14Families/ 54Persons (2:23PM)
• Fairlane Gym-100 Families