Landslide blocks road in barangay Sapangdaku

A landslide cut off access in a major road in barangay Sapangdaku in Cebu City  which has been  impassable to vehicles since Sunday evening.

“It’s totally impassable. Even though there was no rain in the area  Sunday evening, the soil  gave in because it was soft from the rains during previous days,” said Dave Tumulak, Cebu city disaster office head.

The affected area  in sitio Upper Lupa affects part of the road leading to barangay Pamutan.

A payloader and a backhoe were sent to the site yesterday morning.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, the area was already cleared of soil debris.

Before it was cleared,  people could only pass the area on foot.

No persons or private properties  were affected since the landslide  happened near a cliff leading to a river.

Barangay captain Lorna Damalerio reported the landslide at 10 p.m. last Sunday.

Another minor landslide was reported in sitio Baksan also of barangay Sapangdaku.

“We will work on it (today) while our equipment is still there. It’s only a minor landslide and the road is still passable.

We just need to clear the area,” said Tumulak.

He urged 32 other barangays in the city to submit a list of P1 million worth of disaster rescue and life saving equipment to his office within the month.

The city set aside  P80 million in the annual budget to buy disaster-related equipment.

Only  48 barangays have submitted their requests, said Tumulak.

“The barangays should heed this since they will be blamed if something happens in their area and they don’t have enough equipment to respond.

Requests have not been submitted by  mountain barangays of Guba, Babag and Pulangbato which are at high risk of landslides.

In the urban areas, no requests were  submitted  yet by Bulacao, Calamban, Cogon Pardo, Labangon, Pahina San Nicolas, Sawang Calero and Tisa among others.