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Thursday, September 13, 2007
2 missing in floods
By Jujemay G. Awit
With Jovy S. Taghoy & Rene H. Martel
CEBU CITY -- A certification from the Bureau of Fire Protection 7 confirming him as a junior firefighter was hanging on his wall.
That and a few clothes were the only things Clyde Norris Orienda, 40, of Sitio Mohon, Barangay Sapangdaku, Cebu City, salvaged from his home that was washed away by floodwaters.
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He was at home after he called in sick at his construction job when he noticed that the river was rising past 2 p.m.
Orienda and his 14-year-old daughter Shielo Marie were cleaning up what was left of their house. There were no more walls and garbage was all over the floor.
They lost their clothes, pots and pans, food and even their comfort room was washed away. The toilet bowl can be seen at least five meters away from the house.
When Shielo Marie noticed that the river was rising, she immediately sent her two siblings, aged two and four, along with an elder one to safety. Their house is on the riverbank.
The Oriendas were among the six families affected by the flood, as of this writing Wednesday.
Two persons were reported missing in Barangay Kasambagan after they were swept away by Mahiga Creek’s waters following the sudden rain Wednesday afternoon.
Alvin Santillana of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC) said there were also reports of persons carried off in the Guadalupe River by the sudden surge of water from the mountains around 4 p.m.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama ordered all city councilors to check their assigned barangays in their district, monitor them, and give him updates.
Santillana said Barangay Kasambagan radioed the CCDCC and informed them that two persons were reported missing after strong waters swept them away.
CCDCC personnel were already checking rivers and waterways and surveyed flood-prone and risk areas.
More than 70 houses along the Guadalupe River in Sitio Lower Cawayan, Barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City were also damaged, raising again the need to move houses away from riverbanks.
No one was hurt, but the flashflood swept away the valuables of the residents who were caught off guard.
“It was not raining. The floods just came suddenly,” Virginia Culina, president of Lower Cawayan Sambag II Riverside Residence Association told Sun.Star Cebu.
She said the association has 76 member-households; all were affected by the flashflood.
Several residents, in random interviews, said they were whiling away the time when strong waters, described to be about five feet high, came rushing to their houses.
But the residents, who have been living in Sitio Cawayan since birth, will not leave, Culina said.
She admitted that all the members of the association are squatters.
She appealed that instead demolishing their houses, the Cebu City Government should just provide them with ripraps to prevent water from the river from reaching their houses.
Culina and the other affected residents appealed for assistance, particularly cooking utensils, rice, pillows, and blankets.
Meanwhile, Sapangdaku Barangay Captain Rolando Gilbuena said he will house the affected families at the barangay hall. He also ordered the purchase of rice and canned goods for the families.
Three houses were washed away by the flood in Sitios Mohon and Caimitohan. Two houses were destroyed, while one had minor damage but lost a lot of appliances.
Those whose houses were washed away were that of the Oriendas, Carmen Ubanon, and Francisco Zamora. The houses of Emelyn Benologa and Vicil Bacalan were left in ruins, while Maricel Batulan lost her television and other appliances.
Caimitohan is in upper Sapangdaku. Mohon is at the lower area. Still in the lower area is Sitio Langub, Barangay Kalunasan, where a bridge that linked Kalunasan and Barangay Guadalupe collapsed.
The bridge was due for an upgrade, according to the residents, but it never happened. It was made of steel and cement.
Vendor Mamerto Caballes, 54, was a couple of meters away from the bridge, tending her store when she heard a cracking noise. She later saw the bridge fall.
Good thing no one was on it when it happened.
Although there were no casualties, a principal was injured.
Dr. Grace Flores, principal of Baksan Elementary School, was with her 11 teachers inside the building, safekeeping files and putting away electrical equipment like computers and electric fans around 2 p.m.
They already sent the students home earlier because flooding was eminent.
But the water kept rising and eventually became three feet deep.
Flores stepped on a sharp object as they were moving around barefoot.
Cebu City Councilor Eduardo Rama visited the barangay and Gilbuena showed him the affected sites, including the school.
“Grabe ang damage. They have never encountered something like this one,” Rama said. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (September 13, 2007 issue)
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