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All classes Thursday suspended in NCR, 9 neighboring provinces — Malacañang

August 8, 2012 8:37pm

As torrential rains Wednesday pummeled large areas of Luzon, again, adding to the agony of flooded communities, Malacañang suspended all classes for Thursday, from preschool to postgraduate courses in the National Capital Region and the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal.

The class suspension directive is contained in Memorandum Circular 34 issued by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.

However, operations and work in national government agencies and private sector offices were not suspended.

Memorandum Circular No. 34, signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. by authority of President Aquino, suspends classes from preschool to postgraduate courses in NCR and nine nearby provinces.

Malacañang suspended classes as state weather forecasters hoisted their “red warning” over Metro Manila after noting torrential rainfall of 30.0-40.0 millimeters per hour early evening of Wednesday at various observation points in Quezon City, Manila, Marikina, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela (CAMANAVA).

“Due to the effect of the series of thunderstorms embedded in the southwest monsoon flow, expect heavy to intense (10-25.0mm/hr) rains with occasional to frequent torrential (more than 30.0mm/hr) rains within 3 hours,” PAGASA said through its official Twitter account.

The habagat flood has submerged much of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. Danny Pata

State of calamity declarations have been issued by local government chief executives of at least two Metro Manila cities and four neighboring provinces.

The floods have affected 1.23 million people and forced nearly 784,000 of them to seek temporary shelter in evacuation centers.

Sixty percent of Manila remained under water and vast tracts of surrounding farmland were also submerged as the deluge stretched into its third day, according to the government.

"The roads in some areas are like rivers. People have to use boats to move around. All the roads and alleys are flooded," civil defense chief Benito Ramos told Agence France Presse after surveying the megacity of 15 million people from the air.

The death toll from this week's rain in Metro Manila and its environs rose to 20 on Wednesday after four more people drowned, according to authorities.

This brought the confirmed number of people killed across the country since a typhoon triggered heavy rains in late July to 73.

State weather forecasters said more than 70 centimeters (27 inches) of rain – well over the average for all of August – had fallen in 48 hours, and warned of more to come overnight Wednesday.

On Monday and Tuesday, PAGASA recorded 687 mm of total accumulated rainfall at its Science Garden in Quezon City.

This volume of rainfall is higher than the 455 mm of accumulated rainfall in a 24-hour period on September 26, 2009 —the day Tropical Storm Ondoy devastated Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. Normal rainfall in Metro Manila for the entire month of August is 400-500 mm. — ELR/Hs, GMA News

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