An acacia tree hits a parked car after it has been felled by Tropical Storm Basyang when it passed Cebu on Wednesday dawn.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Storm Basyang has left one dead in Cebu as it barreled through the southern part of Cebu on Tuesday evening.
Jenas Demecillo Allonis, 57, died after a coconut tree toppled and fell on a shed where Allonis was staying in Sitio Sangi, Barangay Madridejos in Alegria town, 115 km southwest of Cebu City,
According to a repot from the Alegria Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) Allonis was sleeping on the shed’s floor when strong winds brought by Basyang uprooted a coconut tree which toppled and fell on the shed.
Alegria’s MDRRMO said that the incident happened at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday when Cebu was placed under Storm Signal No. 1.
According to Alegria’s MDRRMO report, the victim was rushed to the St. Peter’s Hospital in Barangay Poblacion in Alegria town where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
The report also said that the victim’s family had already claimed his body on Wednesday afternoon from the hospital.
The family also told authorities that the victim would usually leave their house without saying where he would be going.
Yesterday, he ended up staying at the shed, a nipa hut, when Basyang with winds up to 65 kilometers per hour passed the area.
Aside from that according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), 424 families or 1872 individuals were evacuated at the height of the storm from the towns of Alegria, Boljoon, Sibonga, Malabuyoc, Argao, Sogod, Aloguinsan, Ronda, Daanbantayan, Samboan, and Talisay City.
According to the PDRRMO in its report, except for four families in Talisay City, all of the evacuees had returned to their respective homes.
Rivers in Barangay Campatatan Norte of Medellin town and in Barangay Ibabao in Sogod town also overflowed due to the rains brought by Basyang.
The PDRRMO said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the water levels of both rivers had returned to normal levels.
Power interruptions were also experienced in at least four towns when Basyang passed through the southern part of Cebu on Tuesday. These are Alegria, Malabuyoc, Badian and Moalboal .
Yesterday, according to the PDRRMO report, power in those towns were restored.
A team from the Capitol has also started its post assessment of the damage caused by Basyang.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said that he was saddened that the storm had left one dead in the province.
Davide said that the Capitol would provide financial assistance to the Allonis family.
Meanwhile in Cebu City, Nagiel Banacia, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) head, said Basyang did not affect the city’s barangays despite the city being placed under Storm Signal No. 1.
Bañacia said that there was “zero incident” in the city except those uprooted and fallen trees in the downtown area.
A century-old acacia tree fell in the parking area of Sacred Heart Center on D. Jakosalm Street at dawn of Wednesday.
Bañacia said that this was due to the strong winds of Tropical Storm Basyang.
“Walay naigo pero naay sakyanan nga naka-parked maoy naigo. Good thing walay taw,” said Bañacia.
(No one was hurt but a car was hit which was parked in the area. It was a good thing there was no person inside the car)
He also said that he had been to the mountain barangays in the city to check for any damage there.
“So far we have not seen any effect of the tropical storm in our upland barangays,” Banacia said in Cebuano.
Bañacia said that there was also no reported flooding and landslides around the city. /With Reporter Nestle L. Semilla and Correspondent Rene B. Alima
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
