Motorists endure 10-km NLEX traffic due to San Simon flood

Flood waters as high as tires of cars under the Tulaoc overpass near San Simon, Pampanga exit caused heavy traffic of up to 10 kilometers at the North  Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

According to a "24 Oras" report of Dano Tingcungco portion of the expressway going north became almost unpassable that resulted in the bumper-to-bumper traffic situation.

Enforcers were deployed along NLEX to assist motorists in navigating through the flooded highway.

According to NLEX management, the rainwater accumulated in the overpass since Friday, which was aggravated by the water coming from dams.

"Iniisip namin na baka pwedeng magreroute but unfortunately napagalaman namin mas mataas ang baha outside of NLEX, kaya ang nangyari tuloy tuloy  lang ang traffic diyan, at kung mataas ang tubig di na pinapadaanan ang outermost lane," Robin Ignaio, NLEX operations manager, said.

He said water ponding in the area was continuous due to the non-stop rains and the release of water from Ipo and Bustos Dams.

]"Gusto naming ipumpout yung tubig diyan pero baka bumalik lang ang tubig kung hindi maharangan ang side ng expressway," Ignacio said.

Meanwhile, floodwaters inside an Simon town have caused several vehicles to get stranded.

Two sisters were seen walking through the flooded streets to get their salaries from their workplace.

"Alam namin binabaha, pero di namin alam na ganyan kalalim," one of the sisters said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News