DAGUPAN CITY, July 19 (PNA) — After 15 days of monsoon rains, the sun finally shone brightly starting at 7 a.m. Sunday, providing relief to people living in the flooded areas of this city and Pangasinan.
But to at least 17 families from flooded Sitios Fisheries and Claveria in Barangay Malued evacuated to the Dagupan People’s Astrodome from Saturday afternoon till evening, not one of them is returning home yet as their villages are still submerged in floodwaters.
These families were evacuated by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and the police using rubber boats and bamboo rafts in order to reach them and bring them to safety as the floodwaters in their villages reached dangerous level.
Mayor Belen Fernandez ordered the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWD) to provide meals to the evacuees and the City Health Office (CHO) to check on their health and provide them with medicines.
Several villages in Dagupan, including their respective schools, are still under water like Mayombo, Bacayao Sur, Bacayao Norte, Malued, parts of Tapuac and Poblacion Oeste. Floodwaters in villages near the Pantal River may still rise due to high tide.
The eastern part of the city is not affected. All roads are still passable in Dagupan despite the rise of floodwater in some areas.
It is still not certain, however, if classes in public schools will resume Monday as school grounds are still submerged in floodwaters. Among these are the Dagupan City National High School (DCNHS), Bonuan Boquig National High School and Bonuan Boquig Elementary School.
Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. called on what he called local prayer warriors in his Facebook account “to pray that the Mighty Hand of God stop the rains and let the sunshine up soon.”
At that time of posting Saturday afternoon, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) confirmed that 45 barangays and sitios in seven towns of Pangasinan were flooded as a result of prolonged monsoon rains that started July 4.
The flooding was noted in Sta. Barbara, two sitios and one barangay; Calasiao, three sitios and five barangays; Bolinao, 11 sitios and two barangays; Bani, 10 barangays; Alaminos City, 5 barangays; Mangatarem, 11 barangays; and Bugallon, one barangay. (PNA)