As government authorities prepare for the possible severe effects of typhoon “Ruby” in many areas of the Visayas this weekend, the Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas (DPWH Region 6) has reassured a jittery populace that the multibillion-peso, 4.75-kilometer-long Jaro Floodway of the Iloilo Flood Control Project will be up to the task in taking in floodwater and then pushing it out to the sea.
Engr. Al Fruto, DPWH Region 6 chief of planning and design division, made the assurance as he cited the floodway’s successful containment of rainwater dropped by powerful typhoon “Quinta” in 2012 despite swollen streams and tributaries flowing in from the mountains.
He said there is an ongoing dredging of some silted areas in the floodway to allow easier flow of water, particularly during a major typhoon alert.
Typhoon “Ruby,” touted to become the strongest to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) this year, remains an acid test for the Jaro Floodway. But the DPWH is vouching for its high-end structural design and immense capacity to hold water at 1,000 cubic meters per second.
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Press Release