Floodwaters submerge Puerto Princesa

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Residents in numerous barangays in this city awoke Friday to knee-to-waist-deep flooding, which they attribute to a combination of three weather systems, clogged waterways, and incomplete flood control projects.

The city government said around 150 families have been evacuated to temporary shelters in at least 11 severely flooded barangays: San Miguel, San Pedro, San Manuel, San Jose, Tagburos, Sta. Lourdes, Tiniguiban, Sicsican, Irawan, Iwahig and Bancao-Bancao.  With the exception of two barangays, the others are located in the city center or its business district

Bancao-Bancao, an area in downtown Puerto Princesa near the old airport, experienced waist-deep water. Floodwaters, in an unprecedented event, overflowed onto Rizal Avenue, one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

“This flooding in Bancao-Bancao really surprised us—before, it never reached the road, but now it has already reached Rizal Avenue. In lower areas, it’s already waist-deep,” a resident said. He blamed clogged waterways for the flooding that submerged many homes in the barangay. In San Jose, Shoogar Santos called for rescue earlier in the afternoon after floodwaters began entering her home. Fearing the water level would rise further, as PAGASA (the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) forecast heavy rains continuing into the night, she wanted her family evacuated.

“This is the first time for us. I thought Odette was already bad because the water only reached the floor of my room. But now, it has reached my bed,” Santos said.

The Philippine Red Cross-Palawan Chapter rescued some residents using a speedboat, a sight that many said was new to them. In Sicsican, troops from the Marine Battalion Landing Team-9, under the 3rd Marine Brigade, used a rubber boat to reach residents trapped by the floodwaters.

Sonny Pajarilla of PAGASA’s Puerto Princesa Station said a Red Rainfall Warning for the city could last until Friday night, with rain expected to continue until Tuesday.

A Red Rainfall Warning indicates 30 mm or more of rain falling per hour and likely to continue, or 65 mm or more of accumulated rain within three hours. Such conditions pose a high risk of flooding, and residents are advised to take precautions.

“Our rainfall may continue until Tuesday, but the kind of heavy downpour we experienced earlier is only for today. We still have approaching cloud formations, but they won’t bring as much rainfall as what we’ve already experienced earlier,” Pajarilla said.

“The rain we had earlier is classified as torrential rain — it was extremely heavy. 150 millimeters in just three hours — because of the enormous amount of rainfall, the reaction time was short, leading to severe flooding. This is a record-breaking event because today’s rain has surpassed the previous highest February record of 141 millimeters on 15 February 2012,” he added.

By 11 a.m. Friday, Puerto Princesa had already recorded 150 millimeters of rainfall, Pajarilla said, exceeding the previous highest recorded February rainfall.