Damaged pumps in Manila, garbage in QC blamed for weekend floods

Damaged pumping stations and garbage aggravated the flooding problems in Metro Manila amid the heavy rain over the weekend.

According to Oscar Oida’s report on “24 Oras” on Monday, residents of Barangay 202 in Tondo, Manila experienced thigh-high flooding after a canal overflowed and two pumping stations failed to work.

“Tinamaan po ang elisi niya at pumupulupot ang basura. Noong sabado na malakas ang pag-ulan isa na lang po ang bombang gumana,” said Abucay Pumping Station plant engineer Engr. Juan Carlo Garcia.

(Something hit the pumps' propeller, and trash was wrapped around it. During the heavy rain on Saturday, only one pump was working.)

“May mga nakakalusot, may mga nakukuha kaming basura, gulong, kahoy, mga sako at lubid kaya yun ang cause ng pagkasira ng bomba namin,” he added.

(Some garbage got through - tires, bits of wood, sacks, and rope. That's what damaged the pumps.)

According to Garcia, each pump could absorb and shift two cubic meters per second. But because of the damaged pumping station, he said the flooding lasted 4 hours.

MMDA personnel have started repairing the pumping stations.

Meanwhile, main roads around the metropolis experienced gutter-deep floods.

“Talagang malakas ang ulan. In one hour, na-monitor na registered na ulan ay 79 millimeters so talagang malakas po iyon, yung ganung kalaking quantity ng ulan,” said MMDA officer-in-charge Baltazar Melgar.

(The rain was heavy. In just one hour, we monitored 79 millimeters of rain. That's a lot.)

Meanwhile, the heavy rain left Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City under chest-deep floodwaters.

The MMDA said it did not have pumping stations in QC because flood waters usually flow continuously out to the Pasig River. However, tons of garbage blocked waterways in the city.

MMDA workers collected about 14 cubic meters of trash from the Talayan bridge on Quezon Avenue on Monday.

Given the amount of garbage in Metro Manila, Baltazar said he was not surprised by the flooding after the heavy downpour.

“Ang DPWH pala ay may gagawing project pala along San Juan River sa Araneta na mag-construct sila ng wall na mataas. And then mag-construct sila ng pumping station para yung tubig sa San Juan River ay ma-contain tapos ang tubig ulan sa land side area ay i-pump out papunta doon sa ilog para at least maibsan ang pagbaha sa Araneta avenue,” he said.

(The DPWH has a project along the San Juan River in Araneta that would see the construction of a high wall. They would also construct a pumping station that would contain the water from the San Juan River. Then rainwater in the land-side area would be pumped into the river, easing the flooding on Araneta avenue.) — Mel Matthew Doctor/DVM, GMA News