Flood warning lifted in Cebu; Van skids in wet road, 2 hurt

Vehicles had to cross knee-deep water on Sikatuna Street in barangay Zapatera in Cebu City yesterday in monsoon rains spawned by a low pressure area. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

An L300 van skidded on the wet road during yesterday’s rains and hit a  parked multicab in  the upland barangay of Babag 2,  Cebu City.

Two of the 18 van passengers were injured. They were taken to the Visayan Community Hospital in the city by responding paramedics.

The GT Express van-for-hire driven by Norberto Amile came from Balamban town and was headed to Cebu City when the accident happened.

The driver said he tried to avoid one of several motorcycles that were trying to overtake him but the vehicle skidded.

Meanwhile, an uprooted  tree fell down on a power line in barangay Quiot Pardo and crashed into a motorcycle  while another  tree fell down on one of the classrooms of Babag Integrated School .

No one was injured in both  incidents.

The Mactan office of the state weather bureau Pagasa lifted the yellow warning  raised over Cebu after tropical storm “Onyok” weakened into a low pressure area yesterday.

With the yellow warning lifted, Cebu residents can expect improved weather this week.

In Pagasa’s color coding rainfall warning system, a yellow warning means 7.5 to 15 mm of rainfall indicating possible flooding.

“No other major weather disturbance is observed outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR),” Oscar Tabada, chief meteorologist for Pagasa-Visayas said.

Regular  sea travel was allowed to resume yesterday by the Coast Guard in Central Visayas.

Any light to moderate rains is caused by the northeast monsoon (amihan winds), Tabada said.

Emergency teams were placed on alert but no untoward incidents were reported to the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, said Councilor Dave Tumulak.

“We reminded barangay officials to conduct preemptive evacuation in case of heavy rains especially in the mountain barangays,” he said.