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Saturday, June 21, 2008
Cebu braces for storm’s effects
CEBU CITY -- Typhoon Frank dumped heavy rains in Cebu for most of Friday, cutting off power in some northern towns and causing two landslides in Talisay City.
"The wind comes and goes," Catmon Mayor Estrella Aribal told Sun.Star Cebu by phone at 10 p.m. "We've heard reports about trees that fell on houses, but we can't see a thing." By 7 p.m., the entire town had lost power supply.
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The weather bureau placed northern Cebu under storm signal number two, with the rest of the province under signal number one.
But it also said the provinces of Masbate, Sorsogon, Albay, Catanduanes, and the islands of Samar, Leyte, and Biliran were expected to bear the brunt of the typhoon.
Typhoon Frank-known abroad as Feng-shen-is strong but slow-moving. It packs gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour (kph), but moves at only 19 kph. Pag-asa expects it to hover over Camarines Norte this afternoon.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to issue warnings to all provinces along Frank's path.
In Cebu, the Office of the Civil Defense also received a report about a house in the coast of Daanbantayan town that the waves damaged, but they had yet to confirm this Friday night.
Landslide
Heavy equipment from the Provincial Engineering Office were standing by in the towns of Tuburan, Liloan, Barili, Aloguinsan, Oslob, and Samboan to help these communities clean up after Frank leaves the province.
Non-stop rain triggered a landslide that sent rocks and earth cascading down from a hillside quarry site in Sitio Tagub, Barangay Lagtang, Talisay City Friday afternoon.
A huge boulder and mud blocked a portion of the Lagtang-Toledo road, rendering it impassable to motorists as of late afternoon.
The landslide, which occurred past 3 p.m., damaged a service vehicle of the Talisay City Planning and Development Office that was parked nearby.
The Talisay City Government sent a bulldozer and backhoe to remove the boulder and loose soil from the road.
No classes
But Dr. Lino Alanzado, head of the Talisay City Rescue and Action Team, advised households in a low-lying area to flee to safer ground.
Hours earlier, a portion of a riprap wall inside a school in the hilly village of Manipis, Talisay City also caved in.
That prompted authorities to suspend classes in all grade levels of the Manipis Elementary School.
The wall collapsed just as majority of students were coming in for the first hour of classes past 7 a.m., said Manipis Barangay Captain Joselito Laurente.
Luckily, no student or teacher was hurt.
The Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council met to discuss preparedness in case anything occurred within the province.
Marivic Garces, chief of the Provincial Social Welfare Office, said they have directed all municipal and city disaster coordinating councils to convene.
Rice supply
All police stations were directed to submit situation reports every hour.
The Visayan Electric Company assured they have been ready for any eventuality since Thursday and that they were also willing to help out even if it meant servicing "outside of our franchise."
Globe Telecom also offered to provide SIM cards to the Provincial Government if they needed it for communication to places where the storm may have affected landline connections.
The National Food Authority also assured that all warehouses in Tudela, Sta. Fe, Bogo City and Badian have been alerted and that they can easily provide rice if the need arises.
The NFA said there were 11,000 sacks in Tudela, 13,000 sacks in Sta. Fe and 7,000 in Bogo City.
Stranded
Hundreds of passengers got stranded in various seaports in Cebu after the Coast Guard (CG) barred vessels from sailing.
In Cebu City alone, some 20 passenger ships and seacraft, mostly bound for Leyte and Bohol provinces, opted not to leave port, said Chief Petty Officer Virgilio Tibayan of Cebu CG.
The CG also cancelled the operations of two motorbancas and one vessel in Camotes Island; one cargo ship and a motorboat in Bantayan Island; and two motorized boats and two cargo vessels at Ouano wharf in Mandaue City.
Inter-island ferries weighing 2,000 gross tons and below were strictly barred from leaving port if their destinations were covered by storm signal number 2.
After an emergency meeting Friday afternoon, the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) sent personnel to monitor vulnerable areas in preparation for typhoon Frank.
Billboards
Barangays were instructed to keep a close watch on those living on riverbanks, especially those within the three-meter easement.
City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, CCDCC chairman, said they also asked the Outdoor Advertisers Association of the Philippines-Cebu City Chapter to roll up their billboard ads to keep the structures from toppling over and hurting people or damaging property.
Classes in two upland elementary schools were also suspended yesterday because the schools were situated on the riverbanks.
Officials of Baksan Elementary School in Barangay Sapangdaku in the south district and Buot Taup Elementary School in the north district decided to cancel classes for fear of floodwaters, said Carillo.
In September last year, mud soaked and covered books, school bags, lesson plans and school equipment, while murky water swept away some supplies when the Guadalupe River flooded the Baksan school.
Carillo said they did not receive reports of any major incidents as of 7 p.m. Friday.
Evacuation
The City, though, had to cut down fallen trees in Mabolo, and ordered all barangays to prune trees to keep limbs from falling and hitting people.
Sinsin Barangay Captain Ramon Ylaya Jr. said they were also closely monitoring the landslide site in Sitio Nangka that threatened over 70 families last April.
Affected families were evacuated to nearby Sudlon I sports complex after the landslide two months ago.
Officials of barangays surrounding the Guadalupe River have ordered continuous monitoring of the water level and the safety of people living on the riverbanks.
City Councilor and Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar sent his tanods to the riverbank communities and asked them to vacate their homes as soon as possible and to return only after topical storm Frank leaves the Visayas.
"I already told those living by the riverbank to move to safer ground every time it rains heavily and earlier we instructed our tanods to remind them again. If they won't heed our advice, it's up to them. And if something happens, at least I can say that we have not been remiss in our duties," Faelnar told Sun.Star Cebu.
Safer
As of last count, there are 96 families whose houses stand on the riverbank on the Guadalupe side.
Sambag 2 Barangay Captain Carl Stephen Belermino and Capitol Site Barangay Captain Erwin Guanzon also said they have not gotten reports of flooding or overflowing of the river in their areas.
Just the same, both have ordered the continuous monitoring of the areas that are likely to be flooded, including the B. Rodriguez bridge in Sambag 2.
Belermino said the situation yesterday was not the same as the scenario last September when some houses and people were washed away in floodwaters.
Some 100 families live beside the Guadalupe River in Sambag 2.
Action plan
Also, Carillo said rainwater again settled in a private property in Sitio Manggahan, Barangay Mambaling after the city drained the knee-deep floodwater that surrounded some 30 houses.
The CCDCC, in their meeting Friday, agreed to endorse the drafting of an ordinance that will allow City Hall to charge owners of areas that cause pollution or sanitation and health hazards.
He said the City will clean these places up or make the necessary corrective measures, but will have the owners pay for the expenses, to be collected during the payment of taxes.
First-time offenders, he said, will be fined P1,000, while second and succeeding offenses will require a P5,000 fine. (GC/MEA/RHM/LCR/Sun.Star Cebu/With AP)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (June 21, 2008 issue)
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