Bustos Dam overflows, disaster body allays flood fear

BUSTOS, Bulacan—Water elevation at major dams in Bulacan remained normal despite rains spawned by typhoon Gorio.

However, Bustos Dam here, an after-bay regulator dam of the bigger Angat Dam in Norzagaray town overflowed on Sunday.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) allayed fears of possible flooding in the wake of the overflow.

“Water elevation on the downstream of the Angat River remains low and it can accommodate water overflowing from the Bustos Dam,” said Liz Mungcal, head of the PDRRMO.

She added that water overflowing from the dam is minimal compared to water that rushed out of it when rubber gate of the dam collapsed.

Mungcal also said that for every opened rubber gate of the dam, at least 500 cubic meters of water is released downstream the Angat River that drains to Manila Bay.

Records showed that water elevation at Bustos Dam on Sunday climbed to 17.41 meters, breaching its spilling level of 15.35 meters.

In the bigger Angat Dam, water elevation only climbed to 185.04 meters above sea level (masl) on Sunday. It is way below its spilling level of 214 masl.

Records also showed that water elevation at the nearby Ipo Dam, which is also located in Norzagaray town is 100.7 masl or nearing its spilling level of 101 masl.

According to Mungcal, the overflow in Bustos Dam is normal saying that they are monitoring its level 24 hours a day.

As this developed, the PDRRMO reported that some areas in the province were flooded yesterday morning due to light to moderate rainfall brought by typhoon Gorio.

The report said that Barangays Bayugo, Longos and Zamora in Meycauayan City were inundated with one-foot deep flood waters.

In other coastal towns of the province like In Hagonoy, Obando and Bulakan, some villages were briefly flooded due to sea water rise aggravated by night long rain.