|
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Baby, 1, swept away in city flash flood
CEBU -- A one-year-old girl was swept away by swift currents in the rain-swollen Guadalupe River Wednesday afternoon, amid efforts by the Cebu City Government to clear riverbanks of settlements.
Rosalie Martorillas, 22, was sleeping with Jean Rose, her only child, when their one-room wooden house in Barangay Sambag 1 fell into the river, along with the seven-foot riprap wall that supported it.
She hugged the baby tightly, but the currents proved stronger and washed Jean Rose out of her arms. Neighbor Carlos Baropas, 57, saved Rosalie’s life when he threw her a rope and pulled her up. The baby, however, remained missing as of last night.
The accident once again underscored the need to move houses away from riverbanks, where people’s lives are at risk during floods.
As of 2001, a Cebu City Hall count indicated up to 1,100 families were living on riverbanks.
Last May 21, the Cebu City Council also agreed to prioritize a comprehensive drainage master plan, a week after flash floods hit the city during unexpected heavy rains.
Cebu City Councilor Manuel Legaspi, in whose district Sambag 1 falls, said the Martorillas family may get financial assistance from City Hall. Relocation, if the family can afford it, will also be offered in one of the socialized housing sites.
In the meantime, Legaspi will also recommend food assistance while the mother recuperates in the hospital.
Rosalie said water coming inside her house woke her up, but it was too late. By then, their house was already floating in the middle of the river.
“Motiglom naman ang balay, mosaka naman. Pero ako lang gyod nga gigakos ang akong anak pera dili siya maanod (The house kept falling and rising, but I just held on to my baby so she wouldn’t get washed out of my arms),” she said between sobs.
Her daughter would have turned two on Aug. 21.
Their house, which was made of light materials, was no match for the flood. It was ripped into pieces, and Martorillas had to swim to the riverbank.
She said her daughter was pried loose from her arms as she tried to struggle against the strong current.
“Nabuhian nako akong anak, nagkulob gyod siya nga naanod sa tubig (I couldn’t hold on to her any longer. She was face down when the water carried her away),” Martorillas said.
Martorillas’ in-laws were in her house, but when the rain began they left her and her daughter sleeping. Her husband, Jonard, is working in a construction site in Tacloban City.
The tragedy revived a stalled plan to rehabilitate the Guadalupe River.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama will be meeting tomorrow with a multi-sectoral group to discuss a plan to rehabilitate the river, including the relocation of settlements on its banks.
The Cebu Coast Guard sent a rubber boat with three frogmen on board to search for the child in the seas off Barangay Ermita, where the Guadalupe River leads, but they failed and called off the operation at 4 p.m.
The law also requires a three-meter easement or clear area from riverbanks, to keep residents away from danger and to spare river itself from pollution from household waste.
But that law is honored more in its breach than its observance, and is fished out as a belated reminder whenever accidents, like the one that befell the Martorillas family, occur. AIV/With CYR
(June 12, 2003 issue)
Want Sun.Star news on your mobile phone? Click here.
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
