BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
“CAGAYAN needs help. They need us. Let us help them please!”
Thus said Lt. Col. Rowan Rimas, Marine Batallion Landing Team 10 commanding officer describing submerged communities between municipalities of Alcala and Amulung.
“The highway, the roads just vanished. Truly heartbreaking. Words can’t explain what I am feeling right now. I know God will give us the strength to overcome this,” Rimas added.
He said it has been two hours and they have yet to reach the town of Iguig which is north of Tuguegarao City adding it will be a long journey “but we will get there, slowly.”
“For now, I’ll stick to my mission. Bring my Marines in Tuguegarao at all costs and save as many lives as possible. Those people we passed by are in dire need of drinking water and food. We shared some of our rations with them,” Rimas added.
As of 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Cagayan Provincial Information Office (CPIO) and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) said around 174,940 individuals or a total of 43,838 families in 288 barangays (villages) within 26 municipalities in Cagayan worst flood.
Governor Manuel Mamba said Cagayan province has been placed under a state of calamity on Saturday’s provincial board special session through resolution number 2020-10-768.
“The non-stop rains on the past days has caused widespread flooding, as well as flash floods, landslides and erosion of riverbanks affecting 22 municipalities and [one] city in the province,” the resolution said.
The resolution also said “the closure of roads and bridges, destruction of communities, agriculture, livestock and other infrastructures have gravely affected the lives of the people.
Damaged infrastructure, crops, livestock and property are still to be determined since Cagayan province is still submerged, according to the PDRRMO.
“All I ask is for all [Cagayanos] to not take extra risk because help will come. Our things may be lost but they can be recovered, but life cannot be recovered when it is lost,” Mamba said.
The municipalities affected are Tuguegarao, Claveria, Sanchez Mira, Ballesteros, Pamplona, Aparri, Lal-lo, Sta. Praxedes, Alcala, Buguey, Gonzaga, Baggao, Sta. Ana, Camalaniugan, Amulung, Allacapan, Rizal, Abulug, Santo Niño 9isolated), Solana, Iguig, Piat, Lasam, Peñablanca, Gattaran and Enrile.
The CPIO said many among those who were waiting for rescue stayed overnight on roofs.
PDRRMO officials also confirmed a total of eight fatalities, of these, four in Baggao town due to a landslide, one drowned and two were electrocuted in Alcala, and one drowned in Tuguegarao City.
It was during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses on Wednesday when a continuous heavy downpour caused some 20 rivers to swell and filled the Cagayan River causing massive flooding and landslides in Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Cagayan provinces.
The Cagayan River which is also known as Rio Grande de Cagayan is the longest river and largest river by discharge volume of water in the Philippines with a total length of approximately 505 kilometers and a drainage basin covering 27,753 square kilometers. It traverses Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Isabela and Cagayan.
Engineer Carlo Ablan, NIA-Mariis Flood Forecasting and Instrument Section head, said Magat River system whose water is impounded at the Magat Dam reservoir and released during the typhoon is one of the 20 Cagayan River’s tributaries.
The other Cagayan River tributaries which largely contributed to the swelling of Cagayan River were the rivers of Diduyon, Addalam, Dabubu, Dibuluan, Dumatata, Ganano, Diadi, Disabungan, Ilagan, Bintacan, Tumauini, Pinacanauan de Cabagan, Pinacanauan, Mallig, Sifu, Taotao, Pared, Chico and Dummon.
According to NIA-Mariis, the dam reservoir water level rose to 192.99 meters which is .01 meters to its spilling level of 193 meters as of 10:00 p.m. on November 13 (Friday) which necessitated to open all its seven spillway gates with a total opening of 30 meters. The inflow of water was at 6,098 cubic meters per second (cms) while the outflow was at 6,671 cms.
NIA-Mariis officials also said it is necessary to release water from the reservoir for purposes of preventing the dam from reaching its critical level caused by a large volume of water which increases during a continuous heavy downpour.
As of 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, the level was down to 192.18 or .82 meters to its spilling level at 193 meters with an inflow at 1,153 cms and outflow at 1,340 cms with only two spillway gates opened at four meters.
Meanwhile, the Buntun bridge water level is at 12.7 meters above its 10-12 meters critical level as of noon on Saturday, according to NIA-Mariis.