Pagasa: Slow speed of storm means more rain; Evacuees in Cebu city came ‘too early’

4 DAYS OF RAIN  

The ‘slow’ travel of  typhoon Ruby across the Visayas will bring more rain starting today till Wednesday, said weather experts.

Pagasa Visayas chief  meteorologist Oscar Tabada said he was concerned about the “slow” movement of the typhoon traveling at 13 kilometers per hour because this would dump more water.

Two hours of a downpour in Cebu can already trigger floods, he told officials in Cebu City Hall.

Expect moderate  to heavy rains, especially in north Cebu, till Wednesday, when the storm is expected to exit the Philippines in the evening, said Tabada.

He said the sun would shine and bring fine weather by Friday yet.

Tabada said coastal residents were at risk with tide expected to reach .8 meters past 10 p.m. which can cause wind waves and a storm surge.

On Sunday, the highest tide will be already 1.8 meters close to midnight.

Tabada said wave height can reach 15 to 16 feet, enough to destroy a sea wall or submerge a one-story house.

TOO EARLY

Francisca Natural, 53 didn’t wait for an official call to evacuate.

She packed up her family and left the coast of barangay Sawang Calero, Cebu City on Friday afternoon when storm signal no. 2 was raised.

“Naniguro na lang gyud mi kay lisod na kung anha pa mi mamalhin nga kusog na ang ulan,” she told Cebu Daily News.

(We wanted to be sure about safety. It’s difficult  if we evacuate only when it starts raining hard.)

Together with her husband, three children and four grandchildren, Francisca went to the Don Carlos Gothong Memorial High School.

As of 2 p.m. yesterday, there were 2,400 people or 235 families taking shelter in the school.   Many asked whether food would be handed out soon.

Skies were overcast but no heavy rains fell in Cebu City Friday or Saturday.

Evacuees coming in “early” led to an awkward situation which had disaster officials frantically  announcing over the radio that shoreline barangays should wait for the official signal to evacuate.

Finally at 4 p.m. yesterday, a few hours before typhoon Ruby made landfall in Eastern Samar, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama announced a preemptive evacuation.

He called it “persuasive harassment with care.”

Before this, he and city officials were briefed on the storm’s progress by the Pagasa chief and inspected various public gyms and schools already housing evacuees.

Rama said he didn’t immediately announced a forced evacuation to avoid “scaring”’ people since there was no definite word that Cebu City would be directly hit by typhoon Ruby.

But after hearing the assessment about high rainfall and high tide, the mayor called for evacuations of families living along the coastlines and rivers.

“We still want to have the element of care and not being forceful,” he said.

About 3,000 families live near the sea or by the river, said Councilor Dave Tumulak of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC).

He said schools and gyms were identified as evacuation sites after being checked for  capacity and structural strength.

Mayor Rama said he was satisfied with what he saw in the evacuation centers.

“I’m happy that the areas were manned. They have to be attended to very well,” he said.

At the Cebu Technological University (CTU), some families stayed in the gym which had no walls.  They were worried about getting wet.

“Okay ra man mi diri, pero mahadlok lang mi nga mabasa mi kung kusog na kaayo ang uwan,” said 50-year-old Vilma Abelar.
(We’re okay here but we’re afraid we might get wet once it starts to rain hard.)

She said they evacuated early since the family lived in tents after losing their house in the fire that hit  Palmat Street in barangay San Roque this year.

The mayor later arranged for their transfer to the CTU classrooms after talking with school managers.

CTU campus was hosting 197 families or 984 individuals from barangays San Roque, Tejero and Tinago.

At least two policemen are assigned in each evacuation center along with some barangay tanods.

Medical emergency help desks and portable toilets  were set up in various schools and sports gyms.  A communal kitchen is also set up for families to cook meals.

Most families brought their own sleeping mats and food supplies.

The city government only started distributing food packs of rice, canned goods and noodles yesterday after the mayor’s signal to evacuate.

About 6,000 food packs will be given out in Cebu City.

Each food pack contains three kilos of rice, eight canned goods and instant noodles to last three days for each family, said Ester Concha, chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Services.

LAPU-LAPU CITY

Almost 10,000 people were gathered in evacuation centers in Mandaue City and more than 4,000 in Lapu-Lapu City.

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza declared a forced evacuation at 3 p.m. yesterday.

Policemen and barangay tanods went around to houses in coastal villages.

Residents of islet barangays of Caubian, Caohagan and Pang-anan are secured in public schools, said Sr. Supt. Armando Radoc, acting city police chief.

Mandaue city raised a “red alert” status but had not given an evacuation order yet as of 5 p.m.

Felix Suico, head of the Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they were “well prepared” and have been meeting since Monday with barangay captains, department heads and other stake holders.

City vehicles had their tanks filled with gas.  Radio communication sets were prepared.

“Though our school is too old, we are safer here when it comes to flood, wind or others,” said Rosalina Gonzales, principal of Subangdaku Elementary School, which has 59 classrooms with toilets.

Families are also being housed in the campuses of University of Cebu-Lapu and Mandaue,  Mandaue Comprehensive School, the City Sports Complex, barangay centers in Pagsabungan and Opao.

The most number is housed in Mandaue City Central school with 663 families or 4,781 individuals.

Violeta Cavada head of the City Social Welfare and Services, barangays were already given sacks of rice, canned goods and other relief goods to be handed out to the evacuees.

Meanwhile, familes that relocated to the  6.5 hectare socialized housing project in  barangay  Paknaan went back to their original dwellings, particularly sitio Mahayag.

They feared being washed away in their housing site near the Cansaga and Butuanon Rivers .  The area also gets very muddy when it rains. Families of sitio Mahayag evacuated to the Subangdaku Elementary School ./With Correspondents Anie Pajauna and Norman Mendoza.