Residents along Agno river urged to leave

MANILA - An urgent advisory was issued by the local government of Pangasinan telling all residents along the Agno river to immediately evacuate after the San Roque dam opened all its six gates to release water.

In a message sent by Raffy Baraan, provincial administrator of Pangasinan, residents along the Agno river and other low-lying areas were urged to evacuate following the "unprecedented discharge of 2,500 cubic meters per second."

Baraan said the release of water from dam would reach Carmen, Pangasinan within 8 hours.

He said the San Roque dam would open all its gates at 2 meters each.

All mayors were advised to warn their constituents along the river to evacuate.

Pantabangan dam releases water

Meanwhile, an alert sent by the Philippine Red Cross at 2:30 pm on Thursday said it had received word that Pantabangan Dam would be releasing water to prevent overflow.

Citing a report from Engineer Antonio Nangel, Pantabangan Dam's head of operations, the dam is releasing water to prevent overflow.

The areas to be affected are:

In Nueva Ecija: Rizal, Bongabon, Palayan City, Cabanatuan, Sta. Rosa, San Isidro, Cabiao, San Antonio, Jaen, Bayambang

In Pampanga: Arayat area, Lubao, and Candaba

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of Phil Red Cross, directed all Red Cross Chapters to alert their respective community and conduct pre-emptive evacuation.

The message said "Gordon is now mobilizing logistics support such as choppers and boats in case rescue and relief effort will be needed." -- report from Maricar Datuin, ABS-CBN News Pangasinan