Houses crash as riprap collapses
A resident of Calamba riverside, barangay Sambag 1 looks at the damage Bamboo-made hanging bridge. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Lilibeth Moreno, 56, rushed out of the toilet when she felt her house, which was built on a riprap built on the bank of the Guadalupe River, move amid the heavy downpour yesterday morning.
Melodia Codera, 61, was lucky that she managed to get out before the house crashed into the Guadalupe River in barangay Calamba, Cebu City.
Successive rains, according to Simeon Romarate, executive director of the Cebu City Risk Reduction Management Office, may have weakened the foundation of the riprap which was built to protect the riverbank from erosion. A total of four structures — two houses, a chapel and a footbridge that connects the Calamba side of the Guadalupe River to barangay Sambag 1 — were destroyed in the incident.
Heavy rains in the early morning yesterday prompted local government authorities to suspend classes.
Ankle-deep floods affected Sabellano and Tagunol Streets in Cebu City and parts of the uptown area.
Traffic congestion was also heavy in a portion of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) road near Marina Mall because of flooding in the area.
Commuters lined the national road from Mandaue City to Consolacion town because of scarcity of vehicles.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, head of Cebu City’s crisis command center, said they fielded two buses to ferry stranded passengers.
Low pressure
Oscar Tabada, Pagasa Central Visayas head, said that the rains was brought by the low pressure area (LPA) spotted about 150 kilometers east of Surigao City as of 4 a.m. and was headed to Central Visayas.
Rainfall monitoring equipment in the Mactan Station of Pagasa recorded 68 mm of rainfall from 12 a.m. to 11:20 yesterday.
Alfredo Quiblat Jr., chief of Pagasa Mactan weather station said that less than 15 mm of rainfall can even cause floods in some portions of Cebu City like Colon Street.
Yesterday was the second highest rainfall experienced in the month of October.
Quiblat said to expect an improved weather condition today.
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