MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Philippines — As flood waters began to subside in many parts of the province, Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado led Monday the start of massive cleaning and clearing operations on major roads and highways.

Alvarado went out to check on personnel from the Provincial Engineer’s Office (PEO), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the General Services Department and the Bulacan Police Provincial Office (PPO) as work to remove fallen trees and debris on MacArthur Highway and other roads went full blast.

Alongside his routine, the governor distributed relief goods to families displaced or hardest-hit by massive flooding.

“Little by little, the floods are subsiding so this is our chance to clean up and clear our roads and highways of debris. By doing so, relief operations can also go on smoothly as the areas hardest-hit by flooding may be reached sooner,” said Alvarado.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reported that 281 villages were submerged in one-foot to three-feet high floods.

Senior Superintendent Fernando H. Mendez, acting PPO director, said the number of families affected by floods reached 81,186 or 380,425 persons in 17 towns and three cities of this province.

Hardest hit in this city where the number of villages inundated by floods have risen to 35, followed by the nearby coastal town of Calumpit where 247 barangays were submerged.

Also severely flooded was the Meycauayan City with 24 villages inundated and its nearby municipality of Marilao, with 13 barangays flooded.

The PDRRMC also reported that palay crops worth P38,737,800 in 2,585 hectares of ricelands have been damaged while the damage to fisheries was estimated at P14,355,000. Damage to vegetable crops was placed at P86,413,000.