Was it the rain? Or the waters from the dam?

SPECIAL FROM http://www.barriosiete.com/
http://barriosiete.com/was-it-the-rain-or-the-waters-from-the-dam/
October 5, 2009

While typhoon Ondoy was devastating Manila and the floodwaters was raging, killing hundreds of people, devastating properties, it has never occurred into my mind…the waters from the dam.

Never.

Until I read something…it said….

Moreover, Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. said that the National Irrigation Administration was justified in ordering the release of water from the dam reservoir since there is a coming typhoon. “It is better for them to release water now when there is still no rains than when the typhoon and rains are already there,” he said. Source: Ondoy ruins P307-million Ecija crops

Interviews upon interviews of people who were flood victims where almost in unison and in chorus saying that floodwaters were rising very fast! “Ambilis pong tumaas nang tubig!” That’s what we all heard. Over and over.

In all my life, I have never heard of a rain to have caused such massive flooding – in a very short period of time. Flooding in New Orleans was not caused by rain. It was caused by the levee breaking up!

And then, I read another story:

Officials of Bulacan, which hosts the Angat and Ipo dams, have said that the water releases should not be blamed for the massive flooding in Metro Manila and Central Luzon. The amount of rain that fell on Sept. 26 was unusually high. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit

So, they want us to believe that it was the rain? Massive rain?

But Pimentel is not satisfied. He is already talking with lawyers and is studying facts and collecting evidence in order to find out which dam managers failed to take necessary precautions or “recklessly” allowed water to flow out of the dams. The La Mesa, Angat and Ipo dams are near Metro Manila. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit

If true, this is terrible! Just like Senator Pimentel, I’d like to know if indeed the the very sudden rise in floodwaters was caused by the waters released from the dams, and not just the unusually heavy rainfall. And shouldn’t they have warned that they will be releasing waters from the dam?