A 60-year-old man was rescued by police after his car was swept by floodwaters along the road near Daanbantayan town, northern Cebu at 5 a.m. yesterday.
Flaviano Moralde Jr. clung to mangrove trees and was in the water for almost two hours before he was fished out about 40 meters near a bridge.
His vehicle, a Mitsubishi Colt hatchback, remains missing.
Heavy rains on Friday night caused knee-deep flooding in seven barangays, forcing at least 20 families to evacuate, said Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro.
Affected are barangays Poblacion, Malingin, Talisay, Suba, Maya, Tapilon and Agujo.
Moralde, a resident of barangay Tominhao in Daanbantayan, was on his way to Cebu City.
Overwhelmed
He went to the Poblacion to get to the bus terminal near the public market on the other side of the bridge.
Mayor Corro said Moralde wanted to park his vehicle near the public market and take a bus to Cebu City.
He was headed to the bridge when his vehicle was hit by the strong water current.
Floodwaters at the foot of the bridge reached above knee-level after the creek below overflowed, Corro said.
“Ni labang man gyud kuno siya maong na anod (He crossed over and was overwhelmed by the current),” Corro said in a radio interview.
Tired
Daanbantayan municipal police chief Randy Noval tried to throw a rope to Moralde but he was too tired to move after being in the floodwaters for two hours.
One rescuer, with a rope tied around him, waded out to get Moralde who was later brought to the Daanbantayan District Hospital for treatment.
Corro said the flooding underscored the need for a drainage master plan.
He blamed his predecessor, former mayor Ma. Luisa Loot, for the flooding, saying she shouldn’t have implemented a reclamation of the area that was “illegal” constricted the water flow in the river.
Loot’s son, Provincial Board member Sun Shimura criticized Corro and defended the reclamation project, saying it was aimed at improving and beautifying the new market and bus terminal.
In his Facebook post, Shimura said Mayor Corro didn’t know the actual story of the reclamation project because he only went to the town during election.
He said the project was funded by the Cebu provincial government during the term of former governor Pablo Garcia after a careful study by provincial engineers and experts.
Mayor Corro said he and other town officials will study how to stop the flooding in the area./ With Correspondents Edison delos Angeles and Chito Aragon
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