BACOLOR -- Some 70 Pampanga villages were flooded due to intermittent rains Thursday, September 12, according to a report from the Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMO).

Classes were suspended Thursday at 1 p.m. onwards to enable students to go home and avoid getting stranded.

The PDRRMO said that some 12 villages in Sasmuan were reported flooded. The rain coupled with high tide caused floodwaters to rise by at least two feet.

Seven barangays in Guagua and two barangays in the City of San Fernando were flooded in certain sections, according to the PDRRMO along with three villages in Apalit town. San Simon town also reported some nine flooded villages.

In Pampanga coastal towns, 22 villages in Masantol have been under floodwater for the past three weeks along with 15 villages in Macabebe town.

The PDRRMO disaster response personnel and all equipment remained pre-positioned 24/7 while local disaster response units were tasked to regularly monitor the situation in their respective jurisdictions and report to the provincial office as rains are expected to last until the weekend.