FLOOD STRANDS HUNDREDS

An afternoon of heavy rain on the first day of July floods S. Osmeña Road corner Kaohsiung Street at the North Reclamation Area and most of Metro Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Hundreds of commuters and pedestrians were stranded last night on the streets of Cebu City and nearby Metro Cebu areas after knee-to-chest level floods hit the metropolis following at least three hours of nonstop rain since Friday afternoon.

The flood also left three families stranded inside their flooded homes on 5th Street in Sitio San Miguel in Barangay Apas, which prompted the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (Centcom), which is based in the same barangay, to deploy rescue personnel who evacuated the affected families to safer grounds.

Cebu City Information Officer Nagiel Bañacia, who also heads the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC), said that the water level began to rise all over the city when the rain started pelting the city past 5 p.m.

He said that despite the low tide, it took at least two hours for the water level to subside in the city’s downtown area. A number of streets, including those surrounding the SM City mall at the North Reclamation Area and along the city’s coastal barangays, remained flooded even after past 8 p.m.

Manny John Agbay, forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said yesterday’s rainfall was recorded at an above normal level of 55 millimeters, which was about 25 percent of the average rainfall of 202.2 millimeters for the month of July.

He explained that a volume of rain that reached 30 mm in an hour is already considered above normal.

Oscar Tabada of Pagasa Mactan said the heavy rain, which began at 3:45 p.m., was caused by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITZC) and was expected to last until late Friday night, affecting most of Cebu, except for towns in the northern tip of the province, and the island-province of Bohol.

Agbay said Cebu would still experience thunderstorms today, Saturday, bringing light to moderate rain.
Bañacia said zero visibility was reported in parts of the city because of the heavy rains that was accompanied by lightning and thunderstorms.

Blue Alert

The city was placed under blue alert status when it started to rain at about 5 p.m. Blue alert means that all of the city’s about 30 disaster personnel were placed on standby, so they could immediately respond to emergency situations.

Among the areas that were greatly affected were Colon, Manalili, MJ Cuenco Avenue especially beside Cebu Technological University (CTU), near Robinsons Galleria Cebu and SM City Cebu, Mabolo area, among others.

Disaster personnel equipped with ropes and life vests were deployed in flood-prone Sitio Magtalisay, located at the back of the old Pepsi warehouse in Barangay Mabolo.

Water level in this low-lying subvillage would usually rise at waist level as it is located close to Mahiga Creek, which also started to overflow at about 6 p.m.

Bañacia said the water level on most city roads was about two feet high to knee level, forcing people to crowd on sidewalks, he said. Water level was waist-high in some low-lying barangays.

Traffic gridlock was reported in downtown streets and at the North Reclamation Area, after several vehicles stalled.

Bañacia went on radio at about 6 p.m. to advise Cebuanos to stay inside their work places and offices while they await for the water level to subside and until it was safe for them to go back to their homes.

Hundreds of commuters heading home past 5 p.m. were especially stranded on the city’s downtown area where most of the colleges and universities and commercial establishments are located.

Bañacia said they deployed six city buses to ferry stranded passengers from downtown Cebu City and brought them to Barangays Guadalupe and Bulacao in the south district and at the SM City mall terminal in the north district, where public utility jeeps and vans for hire are available.

When the rain slowed down at around 6 p.m., he said, the floodwater also subsided but traffic gridlocks were still everywhere.

The Central Visayas Office of the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7), located along Jose Briones Street at the North Reclamation Area, was also flooded.

In his Facebook post, LTFRB-7 Director Ahmed Cuizon posted the photos of LTFRB personnel securing their things while others were using brooms and pails to clean their office.

Minor Landslides

Soil loosened by heavy rain covered part of the road in Plaza Ville in Barangay Busay and a secondary road in the mountain barangay of Pulang Bato.

“But the roads remained passable,” Bañacia said.

He said heavy equipment would be dispatched in these two villages today for road clearing operations.

In Mandaue City, flooding affected A.S Fortuna Street, N. Logarta Street near the North Bus Terminal (NBT), Ouano Avenue nearby Parkmall, the intersection of D.M. Cortes and C. Ouano Street, ML Quezon Street near the Cabancalan Barangay Hall and the national highway in Barangay Tipolo.

“Knee level ang tubig, naa puy nilapas na sa hawak sa may (Flood water reached knee to waist level near) Rolling Hills and LH Prime,” said Glenn Antigua, operations head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).

Antigua said members of the city’s disaster personnel were placed on standby along Hernan Cortes Street to facilitate the evacuation of families in the area after the nearby river started to overflow.

He said flooding caused heavy congestion along the national highway in Barangay Subangdaku.

Rerouting was implemented at the North Reclamation Area starting at 5 p.m. vehicles were diverted to the Mantawi Drive located at the back of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).

Antigua said he would ask the Central Visayas office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) to help them clear the clogged drainage systems.