5 Luzon dams open gates, release water amid Ramil's rains

Five dams in Luzon opened some of their gates to release water on Sunday amid rains from Tropical Storm Ramil (international name: Fengshen), data from PAGASA showed.

At 8 a.m., Angat Dam in Bulacan had one gate open at 0.5 m, discharging water at 89 cubic meters per second (cms) via its turbine and spillway.

Its reservoir water level (RWL) was at 209.08 m at 8 a.m., which is near the 210-meter normal high water level (NHWL) or spilling level.

Ipo Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan also had one gate open at 8 a.m., at 0.30 m, discharging water at 60.50 cms.

The dam's RWL was at 101 m then, almost reaching the 101.10-m NHWL.

In Benguet, both Ambuklao and Binga dams had one gate open each on Sunday morning.

Ambuklao Dam had one gate open at 0.3 m, discharging water at 53.39 cms via its turbine and spillway.

Its RWL was at 749.77 m at 8 a.m. while its NHWL is at 752 m.

Meanwhile, Binga Dam's one gate was open at 0.3 m, discharging 52.69 cms of water via turbine and spillway.

Binga's RWL was at 572.26 m at 8 a.m., which is near the 575-m NHWL.

Magat Dam, which straddles Ifugao and Isabela provinces, on the other hand, also had one gate open on Sunday morning at 1.0 m, discharging 266.44 cms via its turbine and spillway.

At 8 a.m., Magat's RWL was at 185.62 m, near the 193-m NHWL.

La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, San Roque Dam in Pangasinan, and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija were also monitored to have registered a rise in the water levels in their reservoirs following rains from Ramil.

In its 11 a.m. bulletin on Sunday, PAGASA raised Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 over parts of Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet; Pangasinan; Bulacan, and Quezon City, among other areas. 

Some 100-200 mm of rain were forecast by PAGASA for Sunday in Isabela, Aurora, Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, and Batangas.

Meanwhile, Aklan, Antique, Romblon, Camarines Norte, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Metro Manila, Bulacan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Kalinga, Abra, and Apayao may have 50-100 mm of rainfall today, the weather bureau said. —KG, GMA Integrated News