MANILA, Aug 31 (NNN-PNA) – An intense thunderstorm, that affected the northern portion of Metro Manila and the western part of Rizal, yesterday afternoon, dumped five days worth of August rainfall in just an hour in Quezon City.
Weather bureau PAGASA said, its Science Garden station recorded 96.6 millimetres of rain, considered torrential, from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m..
This value is equivalent to five days of rain for the month of August, in the station, where the August rainfall averages 568.5 mm.
The total rainfall in three hours or between 2.00 and 5.00 p.m. was 116 mm.
In Barangay Apolonio Samson, the West Side River overflowed, inundating Lorraine Street with water reaching nine feet around 3.00 p.m., according to residents.
“Right now, I’m back to zero again because my stuff has been washed out again… there’s no one to rescue me because the water has receded quickly here, so my family is just upstairs, on the second floor,” Danilo Sanchez said.
Sanchez blamed poorly-executed flood control projects for the extreme flooding.
By 7.00 p.m., the flood had gone down to three feet in some parts of Lorraine Street.
Dennis Digon, Barangay Police Security Officer (BPSO) Deputy of Apolonio Samson said, no forced evacuations were carried out because residents stayed in elevated areas of their homes.
He added that, evacuation centres and rescuers are on standby in case of emergencies.
Floodwaters also entered parts of Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines Diliman.
In other parts of the city, chest-deep flooding was recorded in Barangays Sto.
At around 8:16 p.m., the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported several impassable roads, including Commonwealth Avenue near Winston and Araneta Avenue at Maria Clara, where floodwaters reached 19 inches.
Flooding at the intersection of G. Araneta Avenue and E. Rodriguez also rose to three feet and was not passable to any type of vehicle.– NNN-PNA
