A stretch of the Butuanon River from the Mandaue City side is seen in this February 17, 2020 photo. CDN Digital FILE Photo (Raul Tabanao)
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MCDDRMO) continues to prepare for the rainy season, especially after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) released an advisory that La Niña has a high probability to last until August.
Buddy Alain Ybañez, MCDRRMO head, said the city, through the Department of General Services and Engineering Office, had been cleaning drainage and waterways of major thoroughfares.
Ybañez said the CDRRMO was also coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways with the clearing of major waterways, especially the Butuanon River.
He said the city being one of the flood-prone areas in Cebu had been regularly preparing for the rainy season.
He, however, said that it was after typhoon Agaton that they were very focused on the measures to be done.
The city experienced continuous rainfall for three days which resulted in the overflow of the Butuanon River. Because of it Sitio Pagatpatan in Barangay Paknaan had experienced above knee-deep flooding.
“Atoang pagtutok gyud ani right immediately after Agaton. What we noticed, is one of the major causes of the rising of the water level is the garbage,” said Ybañez.
(We focused immediately on this after Agaton. What we noticed is that one of the major causes of the rising of the water level is the garbage.)
He said they were coordinating with the barangays about the collection of garbage and clean up of drainage especially the interior portions of their villages.
“Tan-awon sad na nila unsay other causes sa mga baha sa ilang barangay dili lang sa basura,” he said.
(They are also encouraged to look into what other causes of floods in the barangay and not only the garbage.)
“The city cannot do it alone, atoang mga katawhan (our fellowmen), it’s either you are part of the solution or part of the problem, magtinabangay manglimpyo (Let’s help each other to clean) (surroundings),” Ybañez added.
Moreover, only two of the seven Early Warning Systems (EWS) are not operational which were located in Barangay Paknaan and Barangay Cabancalan.
The EWS that were damaged because of typhoon Odette are used to monitor the river’s water level.
Ybañez said they had been going to the barangays and sitios reminding leaders to monitor their areas.
He said they had also already cascaded their emergency hotlines to low-lying residents so that they could immediately report if ever they would note a rise in water level.
Ybañez added that they were also monitoring the city’s landslide areas.
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