As waters recede, Marikina authorities shift from rescue to clean-up

As both the Marikina River and the floods in the city subsided Thursday, Marikina City authorities shifted from rescuing families trapped in their homes to cleaning up the mess left by two days' worth of monsoon rains. Local authorities said that the river's water level has already gone down to the 17-meter mark (currently at 17.29 meters) from last night's almost 20 meters. Floodwaters in the hard-hit areas of Barangay Tumana, Industrial Valley, Nangka and the riverside Provident Village have already gone down. "Except for a few portions of the city, the rest ay okay na and clearing operations na kami," Michael Surbano of Marikina Rescue 161 told GMA News Online, adding that only the low-lying Barangay Malanday remains inundated in six-foot-deep floods. Waste removal and clean-up Surbano said the local government has already deployed personnel from the city's engineering office and the Marikina Waste Management Office to take care of the garbage and debris littering the streets.

A resident tries to scour for belongings in what was left of his house after the Marikina River swelled in the last few days and swallowed an entire community in Tumana village. GMA News

But waste management authorities are not the only ones expected to swoop down on the disarrayed communities, as some of the more than 7,200 families or 42,000 evacuees currently housed in 33 evacuation centers are expected to return to their villages soon. "Kung tuluy-tuloy ang pagbaba ng tubig, there would be a lot of evacuees who would go back to their houses. It's cleaning time naman this time," said Beth Novio of Marikina's Manpower Development Training Office in a separate interview with GMA News Online. For the last few days until the present, evacuees have been holed up inside public elementary and high schools, gymnasiums, churches, and barangay halls, after they were forced out of their homes by the floods and the danger of the rapidly swelling river. Last Tuesday, the river's water level peaked at about 20.6 meters, more than four meters above the critical level and less than three meters short of its level in September 2009 at height of Tropical Storm Ondoy's rampage over Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Novio admitted encountering the same old problem of some residents' refusing to leave their houses despite the rising floods, but said rescue and relief efforts are better now than during Ondoy three years back. "Now, it's under control. It's the same old tune kasi na kapag ang water nasa height na ng pagtaas, hindi kaagad napakiusapan ang mga tao to evacuate or iwan ang bahay nila. But from the Ondoy experience, medyo takot na ang mga tao, mas madali na silang pakiusapan ngayon," she said. Both Novio and Surbano said that from time to time they would allow residents, usually men or heads of family, to head back to their houses and check on their properties. "Kapag nakakaramdam sila na mediyo bumababa ang tubig, ang nasa evacuation centers, bumabalik. Pero usually ang ginagawa namin, pag nasa evacuation centers na, may tao para pumigil sa kanila," Surbano said. Manggahan Floodway The water level has likewise been going down at the Manggahan Floodway — the artificial waterway created to divert water from the Marikina River away from the Pasig River and into Laguna de Bay. According to Jonathan Gomez of the Manggahan Flood Control Operations System, their rainfall gauge indicated zero rainfall in the areas that feed the Marikina River, namely Mt. Oro, Mt. Aries and the Bosoboso River. "Pawala na ang rainfall upstream at pababa na ang kaunting natitira," said Gomez. All eight of Manggahan's floodgates are currently open to allow water to flow to Laguna de Bay. Personnel at the floodway opened two floodgates when the river's water level reached 13 meters, and thereafter opened two more gates every time the water rose by half a meter. On Tuesday, Marikina Vice Mayor Dr. Jose Fabian Cadiz blamed the illegal settlers on the edge of the Manggahan Floodway for the excessive swelling of the Marikina River. He said the settlements have greatly reduced the width and the water-capacity of the floodgates, causing water upstream to build up and spill over to the city's communities. - BM, GMA News