Was it the rain?! Or the waters from the dam?!
While typhoon Ondoy was devastating Manila and the floodwaters was raging, killing hundreds of people, devastating properties, it has never occurred into my mind… the waters from the dam.
Never.
Until I read something… it said…
Moreover, Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. said that the National Irrigation Administration was justified in ordering the release of water from the dam reservoir since there is a coming typhoon. “It is better for them to release water now when there is still no rains than when the typhoon and rains are already there,” he said. Source: Ondoy ruins P307-million Ecija crops
Interviews upon interviews of people who were flood victims where almost in unison and in chorus saying that floodwaters were rising very fast! “Ambilis pong tumaas nang tubig!” That’s what we all heard. Over and over.
In all my life, I have never heard of a rain to have caused such massive flooding – in a very short period of time. Flooding in New Orleas was not caused by rain. It was caused by the levee breaking up!
And then, I read another story:
Officials of Bulacan, which hosts the Angat and Ipo dams, have said that the water releases should not be blamed for the massive flooding in Metro Manila and Central Luzon. The amount of rain that fell on Sept. 26 was unusually high. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit
So, they want us to believe that it was the rain?! Massive rain?
But Pimentel is not satisfied. He is already talking with lawyers and is studying facts and collecting evidence in order to find out which dam managers failed to take necessary precautions or “recklessly” allowed water to flow out of the dams. The La Mesa, Angat and Ipo dams are near Metro Manila. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit
If true, this is terrible! Just like Senator Pimentel, I’d like to know if indeed the the very sudden rise in floodwaters was caused by the waters released from the dams, and not just the unusually heavy rainfall. And shouldn’t they have warned that they will be releasing waters from the dam?
Don’t you think?!
DAMN!
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actually I’ve heard about this from my colleague who is a victim of the flooding. She told me that it was really not the rain. It would be the dam (Angat dam).
I was suppose to create a post about I was not able to find any supporting document. As what colleague told me, the water supposedly be released in quiapo area, but did not do it to save Malacañang Palace. So they sacrificed residential areas “daw”.
If this is indeed true, then somebody needs to be punished accordingly.
nabasa ko yong comment ni Kutz sa baba… i bet you… wala ring mangyayari nito. can you imagine the number of people who’d collect damages?
ang masasabi ko lang dito…dahil talagang taga marikina ako, talagang binubuksan nila ang dam sa montalban pag talagang malakas ang ulan. kaya biglang bigla ang pag agos ng tubig at sanhi iyun ng malawakang pag baha. ang mali talaga dito ay hindi nila pinabababalaan ang mga tao kung sila nga ay mag-re-release ng tubig. at saka ang sangkot na rin dyan sa sisihan ay ang pag dedeveloped ng mga mabababang lugar into villages. ang tanong na lang dito ay kung papano ba ito lulutasin sa susunod na mag karoon ulit ng isang malakas na bagyo.palagay ko mauulit at mauuulit iyan kung hindi gagawa ang pamahalaan ng maayos na solusyon para maiwasan ang ganitong sitwasyon. hindi na dapat pang mag sisihan dahil nang yari na ang ganitong bagay, kailangang na lang talagang pag aralan nila kung papano ito hindi na maulit. sawang sawa na ang mga tao sa balitak takan ng mga naka-upong politiko.
dapat kasi magrelease sila ng tubig sa dam either 2 days or a day before ng bagyo. kaso di din naman nila nappredict ang bagyo kasi luma ang gamit ng PAGASA.
hindi din naman pwede na mag release sila ng tubig before bumagyo, maari din maapektuhan ang suppy ng tubig..
sa naging karanasan namin noong nagdaang sabado, masasabi ko na kakaaiba talaga ang bilis ng pagtaas ng tubig noong araw na iyon
so i guess – some people know at ayaw lang mag-salita?
but i read annie na wala naman daw DAM sa montalban. i have not been to montalban at hindi ko kabisado ang lugar na yon. totoo ba na walang DAM sa montalban?
weird nga naman talaga nag in 6 hours or kahit na 24 hours, media wants us to believe na bumukas ang lake sa langit at bumagsak ang tubig. i mean, i did believed it for a while, kaya palibhasa hanggang tingin lang ako sa mga video, there is always this thing hanging in my head na ba’t ambilis? ba’t ambilis? until i started reading about these waters sa dam.
makes sense naman di ba? at parang tama ang hinala ni pimentel.
ang sinasabi nila…wala daw DAM sa marikina…which is true, dahil ang Montalban ay hindi na sakop ng Marikina. Pero hindi nila sinabi na walang DAM sa Rizal di ba?
asan ang dam sa rizal? meron ba talaga sa montalban?
meron akong nakita: eto: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15404320
eto pa: blog entry: http://www.myhealthblog.org/2009/01/18/wawa-dam-mountain-treck-for-fresh-air-and-organic-fruits/
May dam sa Montalban, iyong Wawa Dam. When i was in high school, bago mag graduate, we have to donate seedlings ng puno. May seedling bank sa malapit sa Wawa Dam at duon kami nakuha ng seedlings. Bakit kasi wala na ang ganuong project eh. Para lahat ng kabataan aware sa kahalagahan ng puno.
and another thing. yung ulan noong time na yun. di din ganun kalakas. nagulat din ako kung bakit biglaan ang pataas ng tubig. less than an hour sa amin hanggang bewang na ang tubig. nasa makati area pa ako noon ha
see? you’re not the only one who’s been saying that. almost everybody! almost everybody! are they trying us to believe something which is not true? sinong pino-protektahan nila???
sabi nila and medjo nainis din ako. they protected Malacañang and sacrificed the residential area. Marikina, Cainta, Pasig, etc. Most of those places are residential. Di ko talaga alam ang full story behind it. basta what the people from cainta is saying, they sacrificed residential areas.
well, let’s see what happens dun sa gagawin ni Pimentel and hopefully, lumabas ang katotohanan. but right now, lumaki ang duda ko na it’s not the rain – rather, yong tubig sa dam ang suspect
This same thing happened din noong nasa kina hubby’s hometown ako sa Pangasinan ako, Teng… mga late 1990′s. There was a coming typhoon pero di pa naman dumarating talaga. It was a Saturday morning, mga 6:30AM or so. My next door neighbor just went across the street to buy pandesal sa nearby bakery… I saw her cross the street and saw her being dragged by gushing brown water that just came from nowhere. I was on the second story of a huge house so I literally saw how the 5 feet or so brown water just appeared and kept rising. We were scooping every person from our balkon…there was no time to go downstairs and open the house from downsatairs. Mabuti na lang yung bahay may mahabang hagdan na diretso sa taas so we were able to help a lot of people. The devastation and death that the flash flood brought was terrifying. The damages were from eastern Pangasinan all the way to the western part of Dagupan to the sea.
It was accordingly due to opening up of San Roque-San Manuel dam – they opened the gates in front of the residential area in addition to the usual gates that faces the Agno river. Same old story Teng…then what followed was an investigation… which lead to nowhere. I’m not proud to say this and my heart goes out to our kababayans na naapektuhan. But I have no faith at all sa imbestigasyon na naman. I think it’s a waste of time and people’s money. I will do what the people of Pangasinan did- come together, pick up the pieces, and move on. I would love to be proven wrong, though, I really would.
aba! nabuhay ka! hahaha! how the executive mba going on ba?!
yeah! malaki ang duda ko na this is the same as your story. and i would not be surprised na walang datnan ang investigation na to just in case dahil this will totally bankcrupt kung sino man ang me kasalanan nito.
Buhay pa naman… nakikipambuno sa Business Law, HAHAHAHA! Nalulunod na ang alindog ko sa alphabet soup – EEO, COBRA, FLSA, MSPA, CCPA, FMLA, ERISA, ABCDEFGHIJK!!!! grrrrr… Ba’t di mo sinabing ganito pala kahirap????? Kasalanan mong lahat itong napasukan ko, hmp!
eeeeek! anong pinag-aaralan mo?!
iisa lang ang mini-morize ko.
FABRIZIO.
kaklase kong italyanong pagka-tali-talino.
kaya alam ko simple lang ang MBA hehehe!
leche ka… minaster mo kasi muna ang Art of Social Climbing kaya madali na lang sa imo ang E-MBA, waaahhh! Yokooo naaahhhhh, ang hiraffff, uhuhuhuuu!
‘day! ang mahal kamo nang social climbing dun sa italyanong yun! kundi lang malaking tulong yun saken sa mga projects ko, leche isang dinner aabot nang $100 isang plate! wala pa tip nyan ha? hahaha!
The Phils got science and eng’g about all this stuff (sa eng’g we did study open channels, ewan anong tawag sa ibang schools jan), this is really a cultural, socio-economic and political issue. Filipinos got no will, leaders corrupt. Moro-moro lahat, I’m sorry, I do hope alam pa nyo the moro-moro thing.
like all these corruption cases na puro dada…
Exactly Reynz. Super matalino … oooops , magulang lahat.
reynz: we have a useless government that doesn’t really care for the people.
More power to your great blog!
EQ
EQ.. many thanks.
Truly. Inutil talaga!
Ang brother ko, lumubog ang bahay sa East Fairview, they are near La Mesa Dam, sa tinagal tagal nilang nakatira duon, first time na nalubog sila. Sira lahat ng gamit. Mas malamang talaga sa hindi, nagpakawala sila ng tubig galing sa dam ng walang sabi-sabi!
Gosh, Lani, that must have been really scary. To be perfectly honest, I would be frightened to live near a dam site, anywhere in the world.
Hi Anna,
It’s not a guarantee na you will be spared from a flash flood kung hindi ka nakatira near a dam. When this same incident happened to Region 1 in the late 90′s, Dagupan City and the western part of the province was like ten municipalities away from San-Roque-San Manuel dam but they were submerged just like the rest of province. Dams are usually placed on high elevation grounds to take advantage of the gravitational force in the distribution of water.
Isipin na lang natin na it could have been worse. Kasi kung hindi ni release ang tubig and the water is already in a dangerously high level, baka bumigay ang dam and worse tragedy could have happened.
Dapat siguro may mas magandang channel ng communication between PAGASA and dam management and other similar infrstructure natin. Anyway, yan din ang recommendation noon after the Pangasinan flash flood pero what can I say…we never learn.
Lani,
and that’s exactly what Pimentel was complaining about. ni minsan daw, hindi binaha ang bahay nya. i’m sure he knows kung sino ang nagmamanage nang mga dams na to.
My sis also mentionned to me that there are several quarry operations in the hills of Antipolo; she also said that the hills are virtually bald because of these operations.
The “rape” of the hills could have contributed hugely too to the flooding of Cainta.
Not sure of the topography in that area but we all know that the uprooting of trees and the incessant destruction of the mountainside leads to flooding.
The calamity is a case of force majeur (Ast of God) but at the same time, man aggravated the already delicate environment. Couple that with government’s waste of resources and mismanagement, you got disaster!
Oops, Act of God
Quarry? Like diatomite? Now – that I know. Kahit sa may parteng Rizal – not just Antipolo.
Not really sure, Reynz. But quarry is digging and digging the ground, bulldozing every single inch of ground until wala na.So ayan, floods. Unless Pinoys learn to manage their bit of earth, they will be needing arc of noah next time.
nung last year ko sa mba, i did a diatomite project and ran into 2 quarry operations dyan sa area na yan. alam mo naman ang DENR naten no? minsan shady masyado ang mga licensing
ay naku reyna. nakaka-inflame lang ng galit yan. although, na possible nga na isang tao or agency ang dapat mag-take ng rsponsibility, we need to concertate our efforts on th healing and rebuilding process. for now, hindi yata kaya ng mga me nasawi ang ganitong issues.
but truly, so manyinches of rain in so few hours (pwede bang imbentuhin ng pagasa yan?) plus manila’s poor sewage system (kahit saan tapon ang basura…walang chance talaga.
my continued support with prayers to all.
and kudos b7 for leading a fundraiser. kudos.
thank you mr nonsense
tingin ko po pareho lang. sa ulan? ni hindi nga daw po tinawag na super typhoon c ondoy kundi isang tropical depression lamang. sa dam? dapat tlgang binabawasan ang laman ng angat dam kundi, mas malaking trahedya ang magaganap..tulad ng pag-apaw..ang hindi lang tama, ang timing..may paparating na bagyo saka magpapakawala ng tubig sa dam? asaan ang utak duon? ^_^
tingin ko rin pong isang dahilan ay ang climate change. ang sobrang init po kc ng mundo ay nagiging dahilan ng mas mabilis na pag e evaporate ng tubig papunta sa kalawakan at nagbubunga ng matinding ulan..ito poy batay sa napanuod ko sa matanglawin..^_^
we’re not really questioning the necessisty to release waters sa dam. given na yon na if they don’t mas catastrhopic pas cguro ang mangyari. those should have been well planned pati mga tao well informed para they could have prepared. maraming inanod. di naten pwedeng ibale wala yun. tao yong mga inanod.
Tigilan na yang pakutsaba! tumulong na lang tayo para bawas problema tayo sa gobyerno natin kahit ba lampa sila pilit parin nilang sinasalba ang inang pinas! nawa’y ang bansa natin makabangon sa pagkakalogmok sa putikan.
Ang sisihin itigil! at gumawa nang tama para sa lahat hindi puro yabang wala naman magawa sa sarili at sa iba puro lang kabaklaan ang ginagawa nang iba dyan! ang magalit baliw!
Magisip tayo kaibigan tulong ang kailangan nang bayan at higit sa lahat sa nangyari matuto tayong magtapon nang basura sa tamang lugar dapat nga ang nagtatapon nang basura kung saan2x e firing squad para matuto talaga o dili kaya e kulong na may basura sa loob nang selda para maging aral ito!.
“Ang sisihin itigil! at gumawa nang tama para sa lahat hindi puro yabang wala naman magawa sa sarili at sa iba puro lang kabaklaan ang ginagawa nang iba dyan! ang magalit baliw!”
Anong relevance ng pagiging bakla sa isyung ito? I think that is so un-called for and so unfair for you to say that.
eto na naman tayo..
stop using the word nga.. taboo yang pagsi-stereotype ninyo..
perso seriously, B7 has already helped. B7 has the right to make angal. so that we can prevent this catastrophe to make happen again.
did you gets?
did you know na kung ang definition mo nang bakla is ganito – na mas bakla pa ang malacanang because they did not release any monies nung katikasan nang ondoy?!
like what mel said – anong kinalaman nang kabaklaan here?
Bakit dito sa ibang bansa nagagawa nilang maging malinis ang kapaligiran at ang ilog nila tourest spot hind informal shelter o sqauter nalang ang nakikita kaya tanong nang marami bakit lumayas ang mga investor’s kasi po marumi paligid natin.
ang laguna day bay ay potential para sa inuming tubig ngayong tambak na basura makikita mo.
At sa mga pier natin lalo na negros navigation grabe ang basura sa pier hindi nahihiya ang management nito at lugar nang tundo karamihan nang mag tao dito mga walang mudo o harabas kung magtapon nang basura sa ilog tapos reklamo sa gobyerno mahiya naman kayo puro gobyerno wala na nga magawa dagdagan nyo pa!
Dagdag lang po ito sa maraming nating problema kinakaharap sana po magsimula lahat sa ating mga sarili upang makaahon naman ang bansa sa basura eche! sa disgrasya oh sakuna na nangyayari.
ask the government bakit hangga ngayon di pa nila nai-imbento ang public housing para mawala ang squatters at di na magtatapon sa estero
pati kaming taga-tundo eh nadamay sa galit nya. ay naku edwin, practice what u preach…wag na tayong magsisihan at mag-concentrate sa rebuilding and hope that someday we can a better government system. (but just keep in mind na dahil walng pera ang mamamayan, walng pera rin ang gobyerna para parisan ang US or Europe. for now we have to rely on education). now is the time to unite…not divide.
o sige, we accept ur apology na. group hug
the release of water from the dams made the situation worse. we know that we had the most rainfall since 1960′s so dam operators had no choice but to open them to avoid overflowing and worse severe damage to the dam. if the dams were damaged, mas grabe yung water na mapupunta sa lower areas. what we must do is support activities in planting more trees to our forests to make a change for the future. we always blame illegal logging and kaingin but the main culprits are large scale legal logging (permits granted by DENR) and their aggressive program in mining. mining clears whatever trees left in our forests and digs deeper to get precious minerals. once minerals are extracted, there will be no more chance for young tree seedlings to grow.
This issue is eyebrow raising talaga. Magpaliwanag ang dapat magpaliwanag. Iklaro ang dapat iklaro.
teka lang..
ang alam kong report ng PAGASA, (citations needed), 2 feet of rainfall in 6hours.. malamang yun ang measurement ng kanilang lumang “rain droppler apparatus”.
narinig ko lang yun sa radyo (o sa tito kong colonel). hindi ko sure basta tumatak lang sa isip ko..
we need full report of this. paki bawas na lang sa budget ng CON-CON.
suspicious masyado yong lakas nung tubig at bilis nang pag-taas.
eto pala ang report nila:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091005-228488/No-water-release-from-dams-in-Ondoy-floods
Gosh, worse than Bangkok where the city is BELOW SEA LEVEL!
20feet daw ang New Orleans hahaha kaya nga when i was there, i sleep with my salbabida with me, konting ulan hinihipan ko na ang salbabida ko hahaha
i sleep with my salbabida with me,
Hahahah! That’s should be added to Do’s and Dont’s in flood prone areas.
2 feet of rainfall in 6 hours? Eh hindi na raindrops yun! TAGAY NAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
‘day! saan ka nakakita nang RAINFALLING IN THE SKY IS GREY na 2 FEET in 6 hours?! pucha! AGOS-DAM-RAINFALL yun ‘daY!!!
The great flood in Manila combined with the heavy rainfall of Typhoon ondoy and the released of water reservoir from La Mesa Dam, that is my assessment.
And the outcome?… massive destruction.
and NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY macky. no one. global warming echebureche, acts of god plus estero. those lives na inanod were just treated as plastic. that’s what’s morbidly depressing.
oo nga Reynz talagang nakaka-awa…kwento ng kapatid ko, apat na bubong daw ang inakyat nila hanggang nakarating sila sa pinaka-mataas, buti na lang ang mga maliliit na bata ay naka-ligtas…pero meron daw kaming tiyuhin na nalunod ang anak sa provident…nasira pala ang dike sa provident kaya pala ganun kalaki ang baha. sa ngayun pumipila sila ng pag kain sa relief, wala daw makain at puro de lata…pero ang mga tao ay walang magawa kundi mag move on na lang talaga. I am praying na sana’y wala ng mangyari pang ganito sa susunod na panahon…
huh?! sinong tyuhin mo?! sorry to hear this. me ka-klase ako to this day, wala akong news. one in marikina and the other ung binaha rin sa Cainta. i remember nga yung Cainta – yung Exec Village, binili nya yung bahay, palayan pa yung dinadaanan namen. the last time i visited here, puno na pala nang bahay yun.
oo “tumana” ang tawag namin dyan nuon(provident) kasi bukirin yan…dyan sa simbahan ng provident kami ikinasal ni bebot…nelson tobillo, malaki ang bahay nila kaya lang talagang mataas ang tubig nitong bagyong ondoy. minsan nasaksihan ko rin nuon kung papano biglang bumaha ng mabilis, dahil nga sa pag re-release ng tubig sa dam…pero hindi katulad nito ang baha…talagang grabe na ang sitwasyon ngayon! may pag asa pa kaya para malunasan ang ganitong pangyayari?
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IN OTHER NEWS:
Was it the rain? Or the waters from the dam?
Read this: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091010-229440/Water-release-too-sudden
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