ABOUT 3,000 families were evacuated from areas surrounding the Marikina River after its water level rose to 16.2 meters on Saturday, according to the city's Public Information Office (PIO) in a post on Facebook.

The river's elevated water level prompted the local government to declare Alert Level 2 and order all eight gates of the Manggahan Floodway opened, the Marikina Rescue 161, which is monitoring the situation, said.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that a total of 3,077 families or 13,225 individuals were seeking shelter in 28 different evacuation centers.

Marikina authorities said they started on Friday night at a preemptive evacuation for residents who would be affected by floods due to the rising water level amid the continuous rains brought by Typhoon Fabian.