RESIDENTS in the Betis District of Guagua town on Sunday put up sandbags at the entrance of the historic Betis Church to prevent floodwater for coming into the wooden floorings of the church as the southwest monsoon continued to wreak havoc in Pampanga’s second district.

The Betis District all the way to Santa Filimona was also flooded, but major road ways leading in and out of Guagua and Lubao are still passable as of Monday.

Barangay San Jose in Santa Rita town was also flooded since Sunday. The flooding extended to sections of Sitio Dalan Betis and San Juan. The town’s Santa Rita de Cascia Church, a known pilgrimage destination, was also flooded with almost knee-deep water.

Despite of this, regular Catholic Church service in most of parts of the flooded areas were still not suspended with church goers braving floodwaters to attend Mass.

As of Monday, almost half of Samuan town is in floodwaters. The town center has knee to waist-deep floodwaters. Residents said that it may still rise as the high tide sets in; aggravating both the floodwater that drains from nearby Lubao and Guagua into the town. Certain sections of Sasmuan are only passable to heavy and large vehicles.

Samuan is a coastal municipality and sits a couple of kilometers from the mouth of the Pampanga Bay which forms part of the greater Manila Bay. The town is six meters above sea level. The water that drains through the town would need a couple of days to subside according to residents.

In nearby Lubao town, floodings were reported in San Nicolas as well as several of the town’s coastal villages.