Half of Cebu City under water

A Cebu City government owned fire truck rescued stranded passengers at the Logarta street corner F. Cabahug street by transporting them to a nearby area with less water. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Steady rainfall dumped ten days worth of rain after midnight, leaving half of Cebu City streets under water yesterday.

The downpour, triggered by tropical storm “Mario”, stranded thousands of commuters in Metro Cebu and submerged streets in other cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu as floods were reported in north Cebu province.

“There are some streets which never experienced flooding before but are now flooded,” said Joy Tumulak, operations chief of the Cebu City Traffic Operations management (Citom).

He said he was “shocked” by the extent of urban flooding: 12 streets in the south sector, 13 in central and 33 in north Cebu City.

Most of the water started receding past 8 a.m. when the rain stopped or an hour after.

One of the most affected areas was the Mambaling Access Road leading to the 200-hectare South Road Properties (SRP), where floodwater still pooled in the afternoon and left more than 20 cars stalled in the water, causing heavy traffic.

The Cebu City Council declared a state of calamity in order to access emergency funds.

The flood scene at the Mandaue area. (CDN PHOTO)

Classes were suspended as early as 6 a.m. in radio broadcasts by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Gov. Hilario Davide III.

Widespread flooding occurred after what was described by Pagasa Visayas director Oscar Tabada as rainfall way above normal.

From 2 a.m. to 8 a.m., accumulated rain measured 60.7 mm.

This is equivalent to about 10 days of rainfall in September dumped in six hours, said Jhomer Eclarino, weather specialist I of the Mactan station.

In the rainswept morning, a tornado also ripped off the roof of a building in Southwestern University in Cebu City while violent gusts of a “buhawi” or waterspout were experienced in the northern town of Borbon.

At least 50 percent of the city’s streets were flooded, according to Citom’s Tumulak during yesterday’s special council session called by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella.

Among the streets where unprecedented floods were reported were those near Elizabeth Mall.

Along MJ Cuenco Ave., Tumulak said the corner in Bonifacio St. used to be the only flooded area.

But yesterday, other portions of MJ Cuenco were also flooded for the first time including intersections in streets of Lopez Jaena, Zulueta, V. Gullas, Jereza, Urdaneta, T. Padilla and Mactan Road.

“We had to reroute light vehicles in the flooded areas which can’t pass through Mambaling access road. We also had to remove all diasbled vehicles there,” he said.

Tumulak asked the City Council to speed up the purchase of a towing truck.

City Hall fielded 11 Kaohsiung buses which ferried more than a thousand passengers, including those who arrived in seaports but more were stranded on the streets, unable to a get a ride to go to work.

“Most of the stranded passengers were call center agents who just got off work at around 6 a.m. We deployed the buses to IT areas like in Ayala, IT Park and SM,” said Labella.

Vice Mayor Labella described yesterday’s heavy flooding as an “eye opener” for the city, which has been suffering more frequent and severe flooding in the past five years, sometimes just after an hour’s worth of rain.

Pagasa Visayas chief Tabada said Metro Cebu will have cloudy skies that can improve into a sunny weather today. By the weekend, the weather will clear up.

Tropical Storm Mario is the third weather disturbance to hit the country this month and the 13th this year. /With Michelle Padayhag and Bency Ellorin

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