Parts of Metro Cebu were flooded last Thursday evening due to a heavy downpour which lasted for nearly an hour.
Residents living across the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus were kept awake by the sight of knee-deep floodwaters as the rains stopped closed to midnight.
The rain also flooded downtown Cebu City and caused the Mahiga Creek in barangay Mabolo to overflow.
Floodwaters were also knee-deep along A. S. Fortuna Street in barangay Banilad in Mandaue City.
Rain-saturated soil covering a bridge’s foundation at the boundary of barangays Guadalupe and Kalunasan was a cause for concern as the structure’s integrity might have been compromised.
Personnel of the Cebu City Risk Reduction Management Council were sent to assess the situation.
The bridge was later reduced to one-way traffic to reduce load on the bridge.
Oscar Tabada, Pagasa Visayas chief, said last Thursday night’s rainfall reached 75.2mm which is already “above normal.”
Safety
The Pagasa website said the Inter-tropical convergence zone (ITZC) brought heavy rains to Cebu and neighboring provinces.
The average rainfall in Cebu reached 196.4mm for June, which exceeded the rainfall volume of 183.3mm for the same month last year.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said rescue and relief teams are on standby.
“They will have to advise me if in case there is already heavy raining so we can decide on whether or not to already call for the suspension of classes and ensure the safety of our residents,” Rama said.
In yesterday’s Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO) forum at the vice-governor’s office Engr. Alfredo Quiblat, acting Pagasa Mactan chief, said the 75.2mm rainfall recorded between 10:22 p.m. to 11 p.m. is equivalent to 35,000 barrels of water.
He said they expect a Low Pressure Area (LPA) to enter the country in the next few days.
Tidal channel
The Cebu City government and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will start dredging the Estero de Parian on July 1.
Cebu City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo, who heads the city government’s Colon
Revitalization program, said the drainage system is located under the walkway between the stalls of the Tabo sa Banay site.
The Estero de Parian is a tidal channel used as a drainage canal in populated districts of Cebu City.
The canal passes through Colon Street exits along Metro Gaisano in downtown Cebu City.
Raquel Arce, who heads the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification and Enhancement (PROBE) team, said the affected stallholders agreed to make way for the dredging works./With Correspondents Nestle L. Semilla and Melissa Q. Cabahug
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