Fallen acacia paralyzes traffic

The Acacia tree blocking the road in San Fernando, barangay Balud. (Photo by Alan Domingo of GMA-7 Cebu)

The collapse of a century-old acacia tree in barangay Balud, San Fernando choked traffic along N. Bacalso Avenue in southern Cebu yesterday.

The tree fell around 3 p.m., hitting a passing hauler truck and injuring one passenger.
PO2 Clepaf Cabrera Jr. of the San Fernando police said the victim, Benjie Pabadora, suffered minor injuries.

Road clearing operations by the town’s disaster response crew were still going on at 8:30 p.m., said San Fernando Vice Mayor Mikko Canoy.

Canoy said they tried but failed to remove the fallen tree using a crane loaned by Taiheiyo Industries Inc.

“The crane can’t pull it up so we decided to use a chain saw and bolos to cut off the thick branches. This may take long,” said Canoy, who was still at the area when Cebu Daily News called.

“According to the residents, the base of the tree was already hollow,” he added.

The fallen tree completely blocked the road leaving no room for vehicles to pass through, he said.
Northbound and southbound vehicles were stuck on the national highway.

Some impatient passengers got off buses and crossed under the branches of the fallen tree to find another ride, said Canoy.

DIALOG

Canoy said he plans to meet with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III to review the status of acacia trees along the highway. He said some of these should be cut down to avoid future accidents.

Acacia trees, some are century-old, have long been a fixture along the national highway from the City of Naga to Carcar City, passing through San Fernando town.

An inventory was made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to identify which trees were old and weak, posing danger to the riding public and pedestrians./With reports from Correspondent Bjorn Tabanera

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