Marikina River rises to 14.5 meters; city readies evacuation centers

Overnight downpours and rising tides caused the Marikina River to rise from 13.8 to 14.5 meters on Saturday morning, GMA News' Bernadette Reyes reported on news program Balitanghali Weekend.

The Markina River's level was still half a meter short of the water level that would trigger an Alarm Level 1, during which locals would be alerted for possible evacuations.

Preventive evacuations would be carried out once the river rises to 16 meters and an Alarm Level 2 would be raised, with forced evacuations to be triggered once the river reaches 18 meters with an Alarm Level 3.

However, given the improving weather, the Marikina Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office did not expect the Marikina River to rise any higher.

Nevertheless, despite conditions along the river being normal and no flooding observed across the city, evacuation centers were still being prepared for possible use. — DVM, GMA news