La Mesa on red alert: Forced evacuation advised

MANILA, Philippines (11th UPDATE) – The La Mesa Dam is now on red alert due to continuous rain, and residents of surrounding areas have already been advised to evacuate, Manila Water said Saturday noon, August 13.

As of 4 pm, Saturday, the water level at the dam already reached 80.05 meters, just 10 centimeters short of the spilling level of 80.15 meters.

LA MESA DAM now on RED ALERT

— Brgy. North Fairview (@nfairview1997) August 13, 2016

Patuloy ang pagtaas ng level ng tubig sa La Mesa Dam, pinapayuhan na LUMIKAS na ang mga nasa mabababang lugar at flood prone areas.

— Brgy. North Fairview (@nfairview1997) August 13, 2016

North Fairview barangay captain Manuel Chua noted that the dam has no gate and once its limit is reached, water will overflow to the Tullahan River, affecting several barangays.

La Mesa Dam engineer Teddy Angeles recommended “forced evacuation” in low-lying areas. 

Affected areas include communities in Quezon City, Valenzuela, Malabon, and Navotas which are along the Tullahan River.

The implementation of the recommendation to conduct forced evacuation is up to local authorities.

Meanwhile, the water level of the Marikina River reached 17.7 meters as of 3:50 pm, according to the Marikina Public Information Office (PIO).

This prompted Marikina authorities to begin implementing mandatory evacuation for residents of the city’s low-lying areas.

By 4:17 pm, the water level of the Marikina River had already hit 18 meters, which is equivalent to Alert Level 4.

It then rose to a peak of 18.6 meters as of 6:20 pm, then started going down at 6:42 pm. The water level was at 16.8 meters as of 11:03 pm.

#agos @MovePH VIDEO : Water level of Marikina River beside Riverbanks & SM Marikina taken at 2:10 pm today. pic.twitter.com/WhBqt2ZBCp

— Rupert Ambil II (@rupertambil) August 13, 2016

State weather bureau PAGASA said on Saturday afternoon that Luzon and Western Visayas will continue to experience monsoon rains for 5 more days. – Rappler.com