STA. CRUZ, Laguna – Laguna Governor Teresita S. Lazaro reiterated her call to immediately dredge Laguna de Bay in order to address flooding which has affected the province’s coastal communities since the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” two weeks ago.

The lady governor said that long before the storm, she had already advised Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) General Manager Edgardo Manda to dredge the lake, noting that it is heavily silted and polluted.

She attributed this to population encroachment along the shores which suffocated the lake. Laguna de Bay’s coast covers not only Laguna’s 20 municipalities and two cities but also the southern part of Rizal province and Eastern Metro Manila.

Most of the residents along the shores have evacuated and it will take a while before the situation returns to normal. With this predicament, Laguna de Bay’s coast has become “water world”.

Experts say that flood waters will probably remain until the end of the year hence, Gov. Lazaro is appealing to everyone’s active involvement to help and assist the displaced Lagunenses.

Based on the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) report, there are still 760,519 affected individuals from 151,302 affected families. There are also 119,146 individuals from 23,480 families that are still in the 192 evacuation centers. All in all, a total of 238 villages from 18 municipalities and two cities are still affected. Ondoy left 945 totally damaged houses as well as 2,932 partially damaged homes. It also caused 27 deaths, 15 injuries, and four missing in Laguna.