Folks in flood-hit areas told to evacuate as ‘Quiel’ slams into Luzon

AUTHORITIES yesterday appealed to folks in  flood-hit towns in Bulacan and Pampanga to flee immediately as floodwaters brought by typhoon “Quiel” might be coming from Nueva Ecija within eight to 10 hours after typhoon “Quiel” made landfall in Isabela around 9 a.m. yesterd.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Benito Ramos said residents in the towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy, Bulacan and in some places in the province of Pampanga should heed local officials’ calls to evacuate to safe areas.

“Kailangang makinig sila [mga residente] at ‘wag nang magpapa-oras pa habang maliwanag pa... maaaring darating ang baha mula sa Nueva Ecija na dulot ng ulan na dala ng bagyong Quiel at raragasa na within eight to 10 hours,” Ramos said.

Ramos also said all rescue operations in Bulacan will be stopped during night time.

Many people however refuse to leave their homes.

Ida de la Cruz, a 37-year-old farmer’s wife, was sitting out the disaster on her rooftop after floods engulfed her home and the rest of Pulilan, a town of 70,000 people an hour’s drive north of Manila.

“We can’t leave our 15 ducks as most of our income come from the eggs that they lay,” she told AFP while she washed clothes using the murky brown floodwaters that had swamped her farmhouse. Chickens and dogs shared her perch.

She said no help had arrived since the floods descended on Wednesday, when their three children were dispatched to her mother’s home. She and her husband were down to five kilograms of rice.

Raul Agustin, a provincial disaster official in the area, told ABS-CBN television in an interview flood victims were generally reluctant to leave for fear their homes would be looted.

“When we send out rescue teams to help them, they ask for food instead. Today we gave instructions to convince all those marooned on rooftops to move to evacuation centers.”

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said “Quiel” made landfall at Dinapigue in Isabela, still packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph.

The typhoon is forecast to move West at 26 kph and is expected to cross Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet and will exit La Union Saturday afternoon, PAGASA said.

Ramos also discouraged people from traveling to Cagayan Valley due to threats of landslides.

Earlier, several Coast Guard teams were dispatched to Bulacan owing to the floods which local folks claimed were unprecedented  in 40 years.

Coast Guard commandant Admiral Ramon C. Liwag sent a team of Special Operations Group (SOG) with a rubber boat to conduct rescue and evacuation operations.

Later, four more SOG teams from different Coast Guard Districts were also called in to boost rescue and evacuation efforts by the CG unit in places hit by tropical storm “Pedring” which preceded “Quiel.”

Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente said that Coast Guard District Cebu and two others from Coast Guard District Iloilo is already alerted and expected to arrive in Manila shortly.

Meanwhile, SOG team from CGD Southern Tagalog (Batangas) was also sent to  Pampanga to provide rescue & evacuation operations following  massive flooding.

The NDRRMC said typhoon “Pedring” affected 485,311 families or 2,280,249 people in 2,706 villages in 276 towns and 39 cities in 33 provinces.

Of these, 38,717 families or 180,074 people are being served in 498 evacuation centers.

Damage to property was pegged at P5,976,286,619.72, including P567,520,277.81 in infrastructure and P5,408,766,341.91 in agriculture.

At least 4,206 houses were destroyed while 24,136 were damaged.

Some 60 bridges and road sections were reported impassable, including one in Ilocos,18 in Cagayan Valley, 22 in Central Luzon, 3 in Southern Luzon and 16 in Cordillera.        

Rainy ‘Quiel'

While moving out of the country, “Quiel” was still likely to dump 15 to 25 millimeters of rainfall in northern Luzon that will raise water levels in dams and rivers, the weather bureau said.

PAGASA said the typhoon is affecting substantial parts of Luzon because it has a diameter of 500 kms., almost tying Pedrings 600 km diameter.

Reamining under signal number 3 are Isabela, Northern Aurora, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan.

On the other hand, signal number 2 was still hoisted over Cagayan, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Kalinga, Aurora, Nueva Ecija,Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales, Bulacan, Northern Quezon  and Polillo Island.

Places under signal number one are the rest of Quezon, Camarines Norte, Rizal, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Lubang Island, Babuyan Island, Calayan Group of Islands and Metro Manila.

PAGASA said the typhoon was moving West at 26 kph and expected to cross Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet before making exit over La Union this afternoon (Saturday).

Quiel is expected to be 400 km west of Baguio City tomorrow morning and at 700 km west of Baguio City in the afternoon.  

High alert

Phillippine National Police chief Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome yesterday ordered the highest security alert in Luzon to ensure the availability of all police personnel for search, rescue and relief operations in the region in light of typhoon “Quiel.”

Bartolome ordered the Police Regional Offices 1 to 5 to deploy rubber boats and highly-trained search-and-rescue personnel in their areas particularly low-lying parts of the region where flooding is a perennial occurrence. A mid-alert status was implemented by the police regional offices in Visayas and Mindanao.

“We are prepared. Our rubber boats and our trained personnel as well as or vehicle and communication equipment are ready,” said PNP spokesman, Chief Superintendent Agrimero A. Cruz Jr.

Cruz said they sought the help of the United States Navy to get a good forecast on “Quiel.”

Cruz said they usually request information from the US Navy Pacific Command based in Hawaii each time a powerful storm threatens the country.    EMontano, Joel dela Torre, Alfred Dalizon, AFP