Latest California storm turns deadly, breaks levee

WET WHEELS Cars are partially submerged in floodwaters in Watsonville, California on Saturday, March 11, 2023. AP PHOTO

March 13, 2023 

 By Agence France-Presse 

PAJARO, California: Another powerful storm pummeled California overnight into Saturday, forcing thousands to evacuate and killing at least two people, while causing a levee to give way in coastal Monterey County.

"We were hoping to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst-case scenario has arrived with the Pajaro River overtopping and levee breaching at about midnight," Luis Alejo, a Monterey County supervisor, said on Twitter on Saturday.

Residents told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they were alerted by local fire officials in the middle of the night that they needed to evacuate.

"Just the noise of the fire department — their sirens and all — woke us up," said Moses, a resident of the area for about 20 years who preferred to give only his first name.

He said officials later came and knocked on his door multiple times, but that he decided to wait until 5 a.m. to make a decision.

After returning home from surveying the flooding, Moses said water was beginning to cover his street.

"That's when I told my wife: 'Hey, we got to get out of here,'" he added.

The area remained under a flood warning on Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

On Friday night, state emergency services director Nancy Ward announced that the storm had already claimed at least two lives.

Images posted on Twitter by the state's National Guard account showed guardsmen rescuing residents trapped in their cars by high water.

At least one road was washed away in Santa Cruz County, just north of Monterey.

Residents in several towns, mostly in the north, have been ordered to evacuate.

An unusually intense and seemingly endless series of storms has battered California for weeks.

The latest storm was expected to dump as much as 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain on already saturated ground.

Part of a powerful atmospheric river, known as a "Pineapple Express" — for the warm, subtropical moisture it brings from Hawaii — this latest storm will speed the melting of the enormous snowpack that has built up in higher elevations.

The resulting runoff threatens to aggravate already serious flooding.

In Pajaro on Saturday, the fire department and national guard used drones to survey the flooded areas, checking for people stranded in their homes, AFP reporters saw.

Two cousins, Angel Martinez and Christian Garcia, waded through the water carrying a plastic bag of food salvaged from the kitchen.

They told AFP their neighborhood was a "wreck," with water 3-feet (1-meter) deep in their backyard.

They were only able to grab cellular phone chargers, some blankets and a first aid kit when they hastily evacuated.

US President Joe Biden on Friday approved an emergency declaration that clears the way to expedite federal aid to the western state.

Biden called Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday to reaffirm full federal support for the impact of flooding and landslides on the state, a White House pool report said.

Newsom said California was "deploying every tool we have to protect communities from the relentless and deadly storms battering our state."

Storms in January were blamed for the deaths of 20 people.

Frasco couple gives off 'newlywed' vibes in Berlin

BY ELLSON QUISMORIO

Mar 13, 2023 07:36 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• It's easy to mistake Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco and Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco for newlyweds with the way they look at each other.

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It's already March, but it still feels like love month when you're around Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco and his wife, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco gets 'interviewed' by Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco in Berlin, Germany. (Facebook)

The couple always gives off "newlywed" vibes, as what can be seen in this recent Facebook upload from the Cebu congressman.

Apparently, Rep. Frasco was pretending to interview the tourism chief on the sidelines of the International Tourismus Borse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany.

(Facebook)

"It was also great to meet the Filipino community based in Germany during the Bisita Be My Guest launch," the House deputy speaker wrote in a separate post.

The Frascos have been married since August 2009. They have four children.

Learn to live by faith

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THAT gospel episode where Christ in the synagogue in Nazareth faulted the people for their lack of faith (cfr. Lk 4,24-30) reminds us that we have to learn how to live by faith, with our thoughts and intentions and everything in our interior world mainly inspired and directed by faith rather than just by our human estimation of things. We have to be wary of our tendency to literally disparage this divine gift of faith.

“There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land,” he said. “It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

The reaction of his townmates to these words was one of fury. They even wanted to throw him from a cliff. That’s how bad we can also be with respect to our attitude toward being guided by faith. We prefer to think and live simply by ourselves, as if we can handle all the challenges and predicaments we can encounter in our life.

Living by faith is actually meant for all of us, since our life is a life with God. And living by faith is completely practicable, though it obviously would require a certain discipline. Yes, it will require a lot of effort and sacrifice, a lot of self-denial. But let’s also remember that there is also God’s grace given to us that would enable us to enter into the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our life.

To live by faith means, first of all, that we believe that God is always with us. And he is not with us in a passive way, but is actually actively intervening in our lives. We should not question this basic truth about God and us since as Creator, God not only creates us but also keeps us in existence. 

And given the way we are, with our intelligence and will, plus his grace since we are God’s image and likeness, we are meant to have a personal and intimate relation and connection with God all the time. We are supposed to have an abiding sense of his presence in us, always discerning his promptings.

We are not making this up. We are not fantasizing here, although it’s true that feeling his presence and discerning his promptings will certainly require a lot of effort. That’s because God is way above our nature to comprehend. It’s like having a case of “being so near yet so far.” God is present everywhere. We can always connect with him anytime, but he also remains as the most mysterious of all the mysteries.

That is why we need to go through a certain plan of life that would help us establish and maintain this abiding and intimate relation with God, always conversing with him, referring things to him, asking him questions as well as for help and enlightenment, etc.

We have to study the doctrine of our faith, now clearly and authoritatively taught by the Church, and then avail of certain ascetical and spiritual practices, like regular meditations, contemplation, recollection, retreats, etc.

The ideal to pursue is that of becoming a true contemplative even while being in the middle of the world. A contemplative person is always in conversation with God in all the events of his day and of his whole life!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

LPA enters, to bring rain in Mindanao

By Arlie O. Calalo

March 13, 2023 

A low pressure area (LPA) has entered the Philippines but it has a slim chance of escalating into a tropical depression, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Monday.

However, the LPA, last spotted some 630 kilometers east-southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, will bring rain in the eastern side of Mindanao, forecaster Obet Badrina said.

"Based on Pagasa's forecast track the weather disturbance is unlikely to develop into a storm but we are still monitoring its movement," Badrina said.

The weather disturbance is affecting Caraga and Davao Region where overcast skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may prevail in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon or "amihan" is bringing cloudy skies with rains in Cagayan Valley, Apayao, Aurora and northern Quezon.

Visayas and the rest of Mindanao will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

The northeast monsoon is also affecting Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon where partly cloudy to cloudy skies with light rains may be experienced, Pagasa said.

What are some facts about the Philippines?

 

Ronna Lou

Philippine-Women.com Dating Coach and Matchmaking Consultant

Matchmaking Consultant2016–present

Studied Information Technology

Lives in Phoenix, AZ2017–present

The country is made up of 7,641 islands, making it the second-largest archipelago in the world.

The world's largest pearl was discovered in the Philippines, known as the "Pearl of Lao Tzu". It weighs 14 pounds and is valued at approximately $40 million.

The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Cordillera region of the Philippines are known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." They were carved by hand over 2,000 years ago and cover an area of over 4,000 square miles.

It is home to the world's smallest monkey, the Philippine Tarsier, which can fit in the palm of your hand.

It is the only country in Asia that is predominantly Roman Catholic due to its Spanish colonial past.

It is the world's leading producer of coconuts and pineapples and is also a major exporter of bananas and mangoes.

The world's largest indoor arena is the Philippine Arena. It has a seating capacity of up to 55,000 people.

It is the first country in Southeast Asia to gain independence from a colonial power, which is the United States in 1946.

Hope this helps!

[photo edited from Canva]