MANILA, Philippines -- Four dams in Luzon nearing their spillover levels were forced to release water Sunday, spawning fears among residents of low-lying towns in Northern and Central Luzon of worse flooding.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) confirmed that floodgates were opened at 4 a.m. Sunday to release water from three dams in the Agno Basin as well as in Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela.

Seven floodgates of Ambuklao Dam in Benguet were opened seven meters to release water; Binga Dam, also in Benguet, opened five floodgates at 9 meters; and San Roque Dam opened two gates at one meter.

Flood forecasters of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said ten Pangasinan towns are in the path of water released from three dams of the Agno River Basin.

PAGASA said Quiel’s rains which was forecast to dump 100 to 150 millimeters of rainfall over San Roque Dam catchment areas overnight until Sunday was one of the factors that led to the opening of the floodgates.

Magat Dam, one of the biggest dams in the country with the Magat River being a major tributary of Cagayan River, continued to release excess water due to the surface water run-off going to its watershed areas.

PAGASA warned those living near Agno River and its tributaries of flooding due to strong water inflow from Agno tributaries and release of water from San Roque Dam.

As the spilling gates of all four dams remained open as of press time Sunday afternoon, PAGASA hydrologist Gine Nievares said the excess water being released is being manages so as not to severely affect low-lying areas.

Nievares also clarified that the floodgates of Angat Dam in Norzagaray Bulacan, remained closed since 4 p.m. on Friday despite reaching 213 meters above see level (masl) on Saturday or above 210 masl when water is usually released.

“Even if Angat Dam’s water level is currently three meters above its spilling level, the Angat Dam management closed its spillway gates because rains over the watershed were only minimal. The excess water is being controlled because the gates are closed,” she said.

Initial report on the effects of Quiel also showed 27 villages in six towns and three cities in La Union and Pangasinan were flooded, while the Naval reserve center in northern Luzon has sent its disaster relief and rescue (DRR) teams proceeded to Dagupan City to help affected residents.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has also sent its DRR teams to conduct evacuation operations in Pangasinan and La Union, while the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) helped to preemptively evacuate threatened residents in Cagayan and Isabela provinces.

The NDRRMC also said that so far, only two casualties have been reported from the effects of Quiel, with one dead and one injured after a passenger van bound from Buguias to Bontoc was hit by a boulder that rolled down from the mountain as the vehicle was traversing the Gonogon section of Halsema highway around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

A landslide was also reported at Makarlika Highway cutting off the provincial bridge going to Carrangian, Nueva Ecija.

NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos appealed to those in the flood-hit coastal towns of Bulacan and Pampanga to evacuate, as he said that authorities are having difficulty convincing many residents to temporarily leave their submerged homes.

Quiel also affected power transmission facilities in Luzon plunging the provinces of Ifugao, Isabela, La Union, and Nueva Vizcaya into total darkness.

NDRRMC cited a report by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) systems operations group that the entire Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya and 98 percent of Isabela and La Union were experiencing power loss as of press time.

Power outages were also reported in 69 percent of Pangasinan and 34 percent of Cagayan.

The NDRRMC said the loss of power may be caused by damaged NGCP transmission facilities or damaged distribution facilities of local distribution utilities or electric cooperatives.

Another storm is brewing – PAGASA

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) lowered Sunday storm warning signals in most areas in Luzon as typhoon “Quiel” (international name: “Nalgae”) was exiting the country, but warned of a brewing storm threatening the same areas.

PAGASA forecaster Gener Quitlong said Signal No. 1 was hoisted over Ilocos Sur, La Union, Zambales and Pangasinan provinces as of Sunday noon with the eye of the typhoon located 290 kilometers (km) west of Baguio City.

He said Quiel packed maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center, gustiness of up to 160 kph, enhanced the southwest monsoon to bring scattered to widespread rains over the western section of Luzon.

Quitlong said the typhoon was expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Saturday night if it had maintained its speed of 20 kph.

Meanwhile, a low pressure area (LPA) within the PAR or about 660 km east of Visayas continued intensify as it approached the country, said Quitlong.

“There is a high possibility that the weather system will further intensify into a typhoon and may make landfall over extreme Northern Luzon, possibly in the Batanes-Cagayan-Isabela provinces,” he said.

Quitlong said it will take the local name “Ramon” if it becomes a tropical depression by Tuesday or Wednesday and will likely follow the cyclone track of “Pedring” and “Quiel,” which slammed across northern and central Luzon.

Malacañang appealed to the public to brace for more possible rains and floods that will be brought by another weather disturbance.

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the public should take the necessary precautions since most lands are already “water-saturated” in the wake of back-to-back destructive storms that hit Luzon.

“Even though the LPA may be weak and will not strengthen into a storm, let us take the necessary precautions. The danger here is two storms passed the country, causing the lands to be water-saturated already,” Valte said.

Go after looters, profiteers – DILG

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse M. Robredo instructed the police to be watchful of looters and profiteers in the aftermath of the two storms that hit Luzon and cited local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils (DRRMCs) for doing a good job.

“Despite their meager resources and manpower, the local officials and their DRMMCs in Central and Northern Luzon, particularly those from the flood stricken towns of Bulacan and Pampanga should be lauded for their disaster preparedness,” Robredo said.

After visiting Bulacan and meeting with Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy Alvarado last Thursday, Robredo cited the effort of the provincial government as well as the mayors and DRRMCs of flood-stricken towns of Calumpit, Hagonoy, Paombong and Pulilan.

He said the focus now has turned to rescue and relief operations in flood-hit barangays and directed Senior Superintendent Ferdinand Mendez, Bulacan Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, to go after looters, profiteers, and hoarders who may take advantage of the difficult situation in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by the two typhoons.

‘Pedring’ damage

Meanwhile, the NDRMC said more than 2.4 million people were affected by typhoon “Pedring,” which also left at least P6.6 Billion damages to agriculture and infrastructure in Luzon.

Based on the latest NDRRMC bulletin, heavy rains and strong winds brought by Pedring affected 511,795 families or 2,418,976 people in 2,976 villages of 289 towns and 41 cities in 34 provinces, including Metro Manila. Of the total number of affected population, 35,242 families or 162,082 people are being served by the government in 444 evacuation centers.

A total of 76 schools – 13 in Metro Manila, three in the Cordilleras,five in region 1, eight in region 2, five in region 3, five in regon 4A, and 37 in region 5 were being utilized as evacuation centers, said the NDRRMC.

Initial cost of damage also reached P6,690,145,454.43 as of Sunday, with P5,648,474,596 in agriculture and P1,041,670,857.81 infrastructure.

It said Pedring damaged 40,296 houses, of which 5,761 were totally destroyed. Likewise, 62 bridges and road sections – two in Ilocos, 18 in Cagayan Valley, 21 in Central Luzon, and 21 in Cordillera, remained impassable as of reporting time.

The death toll stood at 52, while 30 people remained missing.

The government has released some P78-million worth of relief assistance for victims of the typhoons coming from the combined resources of the DSWD, local government units (LGUs), and non-government organizations and other government organizations.

DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman said the agency will extend relief assistance composed of food and non-food packs to Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A (Calabarzon), 4-B (Mimaropa), and 5 (Bicol Region), and the National Capital Region (NCR), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) that were adversely affected by the recent typhoons.

48 fishermen, 17 seafarers missing

At least 48 fishermen, most of which were Vietnamese nationals, were reported to have been missing Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported.

PCG spokesman Lt. Commander Algier Ricafrente said they are now scouring the South China Sea for the possible whereabouts of at least four Vietnamese fishing boats carrying some 37 fishermen near Palawan province.

The members of the PCG were also now searching for a local fishing vessel at the vicinity off the coast of Infanta, Pangasinan. Ricafrente said the motor banca Hanz Patrick was carrying 11 persons.

Meanwhile, Police and Coast guard authorities in Mariveles, Bataan reported that two fishing boats with 17 crew members were reported missing for days and feared to have drowned after failing to return from fishing off Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro.

Sr. Supt. Arnold D. Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said that fishing boats F/B Princes Angela with eight crews and F/B Lorena with Nine crews have failed as of this writing to return to their families after went on fishing along the shark-infested areas off Lubang Island last September 20 and 21.

In Pampanga, Pampanga Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PPDRRMC) ordered the preemptive evacuation of around 70,000 families living near the Pampanga River as flood water was expected to rise due to water coming in from the neighboring provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija.

Joel Mapiles, head of Pampanga Provincial Information Office (PIO), said areas around the Pampanga River serve as a catch basin for rainwater dumped by Quiel in the two provinces.

Mapiles said water from the Sierra Madre Mountain range runs to the tributaries of Aurora and Nueva Ecija and then down to Pampanga River.

The overflowing of the river floods towns in Pampanga, particularly that of Candaba, San Luis, Santa Ana, San Simon, Minalin, Apalit, Macabebe, Masantol, Sasmuan and Guagua which remained flooded as of noon Sunday.

Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo said almost 90 percent of the barangays under his jurisdiction were inundated with the flood height ranging between 7 feet and 13 feet.

In Malabon City, Metro Manila, the local government sent teams to help residents pick up the pieces as the city was placed under a state of calamity due to the damage wrought by Pedring.

The damage caused by the typhoon on public properties, residences, fish ponds, schools, police stations, and other establishments was estimated at P30 million. (With reports from Freddie C. Velez, Franco G. Regala, Leonard D. Postrado, Mar T. Supnad, Czarina Nicole O. Ong, and Ed Mahilum)