With its streets still in knee-deep flood caused by the last storm, the municipal government of Pateros began to prepare itself on Friday against the threat posed by typhoon “Pepeng.”

Mayor Joey Medina, in an emergency local disaster coordinating council meeting yesterday morning, directed municipal hall department heads, police and fire department members to put in place measures that would mitigate any potential disaster.

Although “Pepeng” — which boasts of sustained winds of nearly 200 kph — is not expected to smash directly into Metro Manila, the council thought it best to warn residents of “high risk” barangays in Pateros.

These were identified as Aguho, Sta. Ana and Sto. Rosario-Kanluran, villages that lie dangerously close to the town’s river and are therefore easily flooded.

Knee-high flood water caused by tropical storm “Ondoy” last weekend remains in some areas and is expected to persist for up to a month, said the mayor. Some 4,500 families were displaced due to the deluge, he added.

Medina said all local government members would be on “high alert” starting this morning as they prepare for the arrival of “Pepeng.”

Also, families whose residences are not badly affected by the existing flood would be made to go home from the evacuation centers in order to make room for others that could be driven out by the typhoon.

Meanwhile, Pateros listed Friday its first “Ondoy”-related fatality, a 54-year-old gardener identified as Porferio Lacaba. Lacaba, single, reportedly lived alone in his shanty at Villegas Compound, Masagana Street, Sta. Ana.

Local rescue team members discovered the man’s rotting corpse outside his half-sunken home at 6:30 a.m.

Police theorized that Lacaba refused to leave his home amid Ondoy’s onslaught and stayed there until the raging flood drowned him.