CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Despite the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong (international name Mankhut), there were no casualties that were recorded by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) of Pampanga.
This was the situational report submitted by PDRRMO officer Angie Blanco on Monday to Gov. Lilia G. Pineda on the effects of Typhoon Ompong that battered the province over-the weekend.
Blanco said only 77 barangays, mostly in the fourth district, are flooded with one to five feet of floodwaters, from the 505 barangays in the province.
“Even if Pampanga did not receive a deluge of rainfall, the heavy rains in Nueva Ecija and Aurora, caused the Pampanga River to overflow its banks,” Blanco said.
“The volume of water came down through the Pampanga River,” she added.
Blanco accompanied Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda during an inspection of the affected areas last Sunday.
It was observed that in Barangay Candating in Arayat, there was already water which was continuously rising and the same situation was also noted in San Luis where only six barangays were flooded on Sunday but on Monday, there were already 10 flooded villages in the said municipality.
Blanco said all 77 barangays affected are located along the banks of the Pampanga River on the eastern and southern parts of the province. She lamented that despite the removal of fishpens and other obstructions at the mouth of the Pampanga River, heavy siltation is still happening along the Macabebe and Masantol areas of the river which causes flooding.
“That is why Gov. Pineda has requested big dredgers to continuously desilt the mouth of the Pampanga River,” she said.
There were also no reports of landslides in Arayat town, located at the foot of Mt. Arayat, where several casualties were recorded during past calamities.
Blanco said out of 14 typhoons that passed over Pampanga, seven brought heavy rains in the province causing flooding.
“Since then, we have been regularly giving away relief packs to the affected people,” she said.
Relief packs contained five kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef and one bottle soy sauce.
