Residents near Cagayan River urged to evacuate as Magat Dam ups water volume release

The Cagayan provincial government on Sunday advised residents living downstream  Cagayan River to evacuate as the outlets of three of the seven open spillway gates of Magat Dam will be set to 4-meter opening, increasing the total of water volume release to 4,250 cubic meters per second (cms).

In a post on the provincial government's Facebook, Engr. Gileu Michael Dimoloy, Department Manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MARIIS), said more rainfall is expected in the watershed area of the Magat Dam, which is now continuously releasing water amid heavy rains from Storm Paeng.

As of 11:00 a.m. Sunday, the  NIA-MARIIS said seven spillway gates of Magat Dan were opened, equivalent to a total of 14-meter opening (at 2-meter opening each of the 7 gates), releasing water at 2,820 cubic meters per second (cms).

Engr. Dimoloy said that by 2 p.m. Sunday three of the seven open gates will be set at the 4-meter opening . With the three gates at 4-meter opening, Magat Dam can release a total water volume of 4,250 cms, which will definitely cause flooding in downstream areas of the Cagayan River.

Residents should evacuate to safe high grounds as rains continued to cause tributaries of Cagayan River to swell, Dimoloy said.

Earlier, the provincial government said Magat Dam spillway gates were opened on Sunday, a day after Tropical Storm Paeng brought heavy rains to most parts of Luzon.

According to the provincial LGU, five radial gates of Magat Dam were scheduled to be opened starting at 7 a.m. up to 11 a.m.

At 6 a.m. Sunday, Magat Dam, which straddles Isabela and Ifugao, already had two gates open (Radial Gate Nos. 3 and 4) with a 2-meter opening each, data from PAGASA shows.

The dam's reservoir water level (RWL) was at 191.56 meters at 6 a.m. on Sunday, which is near the 193-meter spilling level or normal high water level (NHWL). —LBG, GMA News