THE town of Sto. Tomas was placed under state of calamity in response to the damaging effects brought about by the continuous heavy monsoon rains in the past days.
The Municipal Council headed by Vice Mayor Gloria Ronquillo on Tuesday passed Resolution No. 179-2018 declaring state of calamity in Sto. Tomas upon the recommendation of Mayor Johnny Sambo and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office reported that a total of 5,465 families or 21,794 individuals were already affected by the continuous onslaught of the southwest monsoon.
The Municipal Agriculture Office also estimated the damage to agriculture at P952,000 and P1,932,000 for the fishery sector as of Tuesday morning.
Sambo said that the all the seven barangays of Sto. Tomas were submerged in one to two feet of floodwaters as of Wednesday afternoon, including some of its municipal and barangay roads.
However, he claimed that the town’s current flooding situation is “still minimal and bearable” compared to its past flooding experiences where it was almost isolated and most of its access roads became impassable.
“Flooding is almost everywhere now, even in the City San Fernando and other neighboring towns and our town Sto. Tomas is not spared. But I can say that our situation is much better now compared to our flooding experiences in the past years,” the mayor said.
He credited the lesser flooding situation to the continuous and year-round desilting of waterways and tributaries, particularly the Federosa River, conducted by the local government in partnership with the city government of San Fernando and the private sector.
Sambo also cited various flood-control projects installed and constructed in Sto. Tomas and neighboring Minalin town through the partnership of the two local government units and the support of fourth district Representative Juan Pablo Bondoc.
And to further prevent the adverse effects of flood in town, the chief executive personally initiated the pumping out of water from the San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin tail dike Wednesday at the Sta. Rita portion checkgate.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Sambo said that the tail dike has only a one meter allowance from overflowing, and the continuous downpour of rain may cause it to spill over and damage the integrity of the structure.
“This is a preventive measure to ensure that the dike will not overflow because when it happens, it may cause a breach in the structure and bring floods in most of areas in the southern and central part of Pampanga,” he said.
“As of now, this is our only and best choice because the water only rises inside the dike because the water in the Gugu River where it is supposed to flow is also already full. With this measure, we are hoping that we will not only prevent the overflowing, but also reduce the water level by a meter,” he said.
Sambo advised Tomasians to still monitor the situation in their areas and immediately conduct pre-emptive evacuation if the situation calls for it.
He added that classes in all levels in the town are suspended until Friday, August 17, to ensure the safety of the students, especially that some of the schools are also submerged in floodwaters.