More than 13,000 residents were forced to flee in Marikina City after their homes were submerged in floodwater caused by monsoon rains and enhanced by typhoon "Fabian," the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported Saturday morning, July 24.
In a situational report, OCD spokesperson Mark Timbal said 3,077 families or 13,225 individuals were staying in 28 evacuation centers as of 10 a.m.
This, after city officials raised Alert Level 2 over the Marikina River as the water reached 16.3 meters as of 8 a.m.
According to officials, Alert Level 2 means that residents should evacuate to designated centers.
"Dahil sa pagtaas ng lebel ng tubig sa Ilog Marikina ay nagsagawa na po ng paglilikas sa mga barangay na malapit sa ilog (Due to the rise of the water level in Marikina River, evacuation was enforced in barangays that are near the river)," Timbal told reporters.
Authorities said the Manggahan Floodway has been releasing excess water as it opened all of its eight gates.
The military's Joint Task Force - National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) also fielded its personnel and assets to help in the humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations in Marikina and Quezon City.
The Naval Task Group - NCR (NTG-NCR) and Joint Civil Military Operations (CMO) Task Group response teams were able to rescue 40 families, including 210 adults and 160 children in six barangays in Marikina City and facilitate their evacuation at the designated evacuation sites.
Meanwhile, a total of 23 families in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City were also rescued and evacuated at Dr. Josefa Jara Martinez High School.
Local government units (LGUs) of Taytay, San Mateo, and Rodriguez in Rizal also conducted evacuation of its residents due to widespread flooding in the province.
"Other LGUs which have communities along the connected river system are monitoring the situation," Timbal said.
The Philippine Atmespheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has announced that Fabian has already left the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) but itwould continue to enhance the southwest monsoon (habagat) that will bring scattered rains in parts of Luzon.