Landslide damages 11 vehicles
SOME 11 vehicles were hit by falling debris early dawn Wednesday after the heavy downpour caused soil to loosen along the road in Sitio Garahe in Barangay Busay, Cebu City.
Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Chief (CDRRMO) Nagiel Bañacia said there were no reports of injuries or casualties.
The affected vehicles include nine public utility jeepneys (PUJ), one private car and one motorcycle.
Slabs of cement fell on the nine parked PUJs after a retaining wall along Roosevelt Drive collapsed at 2:20 a.m. yesterday.
The damage was pegged at P4 million.
Bañacia said the CCDRRMO, through its quick response team, will have to halt all clearing operations and wait for the recommendation of experts.
This came after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 7 declared that the barangay has been included in their geohazard map of areas vulnerable to landslides.
Following this pronouncement, Mayor Tomas Osmeña, in an interview with TV Patrol Central Visayas, said the incident serves as a warning to everyone.
He also recommended that the barangay disaster office conduct forced evacuation and monitor any land movement.
Busay Village Chief Amilo Lopez, for his part, said the barangay has informed motorists to practice extra caution given the continued rains.
In an interview, he explained that most reported landslide incidents in their village happen along the road leading to the Transcentral Highway.
As for the residential areas, the barangay has also requested residents to prepare contingency plans and leave their houses immediately should ground movement be felt.
“I told them that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Our barangay hall will serve as the evacuation center,” he told SunStar Cebu.
Food supply
Affected residents in Barangay Sirao are asking the City Government to provide them with more food assistance.
During his visit in City Hall yesterday, Sirao Barangay Captain Felix Limutan said they need more food in the evacuation center since the families can’t cook their meals yet.
“We really need food packs for these families. Just this morning (yesterday), the residents told them that they no longer have food and asked if the barangay can provide for them. Since the need is immediate, I gave my own money, that’s why we’re asking the City to help us,” Limutan said in Cebuano.
Limutan relayed the matter to Councilor Jose Daluz III, who chairs the committee on social services, during the committee hearing he called yesterday to discuss the utilization of the City’s P346-million disaster fund for 2017.
As of Tuesday night, 101 families were housed in Sirao Elementary School, Pung-ol Sibugay gym and Pung-ol Sibugay Elementary School.
Bañacia said they already tapped the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) to distribute food packs to the families.
Bañacia said transport of food is slow because they needed to bring it manually and on foot since the road in the area is not passable.
Moving
As of yesterday, Bañacia said a portion of Mt. Kan-irag, the area affected by the landslide, was still moving, that is why they disallowed residents living near the area to stay in their houses.
CCDRRMO installed early warning signs on trees and poles near the land cracks in the site to warn the public of the ongoing soil movement.
Warning signs will also determine the actual movement of several portions of the mountain that moved down, he added.
The experts from Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7 are expected to inspect the area today.