The weather bureau alerted residents in low-lying and mountainous areas of Central and Southern Luzon on Thursday for possible flash floods and landslides as the low-pressure area that had spawned rains in these places developed into a storm—now code-named Dodong.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in its 5 p.m. weather bulletin on Thursday, Tropical Storm Dodong has accelerated and continues to move in a north-northwest direction.
Public storm warning signal No. 1 was raised over Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and Pangasinan.
Dodong’s strength is at 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and is forecast to be 460 km west of Basco, Batanes, on Friday afternoon.
Pagasa alerted residents in low-lying and mountainous areas under signal No. 1 against possible flash floods and landslides as Dodong is expected to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring more rains to the western section of Central and Southern Luzon.
It advised the public and disaster coordinating councils to take appropriate action.
Intermittent rains spawned by a low-pressure area the past two days generated floods in some parts of Batangas, Romblon, Mindoro and Bataan, forcing the evacuation of more than 150 families, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
The council said 56-year-old Alejandra Mortel of San Agustin, Romblon, drowned, while 10-year-old Mark Daniel Ken Mateo of Batangas City remained missing.
Benito Ramos, council executive director, said the two-day rains generated floods in several areas in Batangas City and forced the evacuation of 368 persons.
Twenty families, or 40 persons ,from barangay Maharlika West, Tagaytay City, were also evacuated.
Local officials in Occidental Mindoro reported the Alongpong River swelled and there was flooding in barangay Sta. Lucia in Sablayan town.
Classes in both elementary and high-school levels in Batangas City and Tagaytay were suspended.
Ramos said some parts of Lucena City in Quezon province and San Pablo City in Laguna province also experienced power interruptions.
A barge loaded with soybeans drifted along the coast of Surabaya in Quezon, but its crewmen managed to swim to a safe ground.
In Bataan six barangays in Baling City and in Hermosa and Dinalupihan towns were submerged in 1.5-meter deep floodwaters, while a landslide was recorded at barangay Dekadi in Baler, Aurora.
Classes in all public and private schools —from kindergarten to secondary—in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa were suspended on Thursday owing to rains brought by Dodong.
Director Elena Ruiz of the Department of Education-National Capital Region (DepEd-NCR), said she decided to order the suspension of classes early morning on Thursday after getting requests from the schools superintendents and the recommendation from Pagasa.
Ruiz said although Pagasa reported that the rains would not be strong, there would be a continued downpour the whole day.
The heavy rains flooded several areas in Manila and the problem was compounded by garbage clogging the antiquated drainage system.
Gutter-deep floodwater was noted near the Manila City Hall before dawn on Thursday, while traffic slowed to a crawl in flood-hit areas on Tomas Mapua Street in Binondo and Abad Santos Street in Tondo.
In Marikina the local government kept its rescue and emergency team on alert for possible floods in areas near the Marikina River, such as Concepcion, Calumpang, Sta. Elena, Sto. Niño and Nangka, although city Mayor Del de Guzman said water level remained normal.
The city was one of the areas devastated by floods when Typhoon Ondoy struck Metro Manila in 2009.
