Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro has pleaded for air rescue as the continued rains caused by Typhoon Ulysses flooded thousands of homes in the city.
In an interview with Teleradyo on Thursday morning, Teodoro mentioned that Marikina’s disaster response team has deployed 50 rescue boats but were not sufficient in rescue efforts. The Marikina mayor pointed out that the massive floods from Typhoon Ulysses would require air rescue.
The mayor said: “Due to the strong currents, we need motorized (boats) and weather permitting, air rescue is needed because our citizens are already on the roofs.”
According to the Marikina Public Information Office, The Marikina River water level as of 11 a.m. on Thursday has risen to 22.0 meters, higher than the 21.5 meters recorded during Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009.
The city has been in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard, National Disaster Risk Reduction and the Philippine Air Force in requesting for additional rescue equipment.
Houses submerged, thousands needing rescue
Mayor Teodoro claimed that the city government has already evacuated 5,000 families but the massive floods have actually fully or partially submerged approximately 40,000 houses. The mayor said they plan to conduct simultaneous rescue operations and have clustered areas in need of immediate help.
The mayor emphasized: “What we need is how to extract the people stranded on their roofs.” He added that they have placed priority on Provident Village that was hard hit by Ondoy in 2009.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA), the nation’s weather bureau, the center of Ulysses emerged over the western seaboard of Zambales at around 8 a.m. and the typhoon is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday morning.
However, the agency pointed out that moderate to heavy with at times intense rains will still be experienced in Metro Manila and several other provinces until the afternoon.