HEAVY rains caused flooding and slowed down traffic in at least three major roads in Mandaue City and in parts of Cebu City yesterday.
Felix Suico, head of Mandaue’s City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), said water rose on U.N. Ave., A.S. Fortuna St. and Lopez Jaena St.
He said the knee-deep water subsided after 30 to 40 minutes. Suico also said the Butuanon Creek nearly overflowed.
In Cebu City, City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) Operations Chief Jonathan Tumulak said that ankle-deep water affected some areas of the Banilad-Talamban Road, particularly near the University of San Carlos, and M. J. Cuenco Ave. and Bonifacio St.
Junquera and Colon Sts. in downtown area were also flooded.
Tumulak said the rain was not heavy in some parts of the city, that’s why some roads were not flooded.
Rivers, creeks
The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CCDRRMC) also monitored all rivers and creeks in the city yesterday.
Councilor Dave Tumulak said the Mahiga River overflowed but the water level returned to normal after the rain.
In Barangay Cogon Ramos, a tree was uprooted because of the rain.
“Other than that, there were no big incidents reported and recorded in our command center,” Tumulak, who also chairs the CCDRRMC, said.
Weather monitor
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Sciences Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday that rains in Cebu will continue till Sunday because of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which is a series of west low pressure areas.
Pagasa Visayas Director Oscar Tabada advised the people to take precaution against heavy rains, strong wind, lightning and flashfloods, especially in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Naga and Talisay and the towns of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela.
In his Thunderstorm Advisory No. 8, Tabada urged the public to make a habit of monitoring weather updates.
Despite the daily rains this week, Tabada said, the mild El Niño is still in effect because while the forecast for rains in June is normal, it will be below normal in the months of July, August and September.
He said El Nino will be worst in the months of October and November 2015 and may go onwards to the first quarter of 2016.
Subsided
Even with the ankle-deep flood yesterday, Citom’s Tumulak said it did not cause major congestion on the affected roads in Cebu City because the water subsided an hour after the downpour.
“Traffic flow was manageable because the flooding subsided right away. There were no vehicles stranded on the road,” he said.
Drainage work
In Mandaue, the floods occurred amid ongoing road drainage works of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7.
The agency is installing bigger culverts and renewing pavement along busy roads such as Plaridel St., A.S. Fortuna St. and M.L. Quezon St.
This year, the DPWH 7 Sixth Engineering District allocated P253.8 million to fix roads and the drainage lines along them.
The agency is also spending P140.6 million to dredge creeks and put up flood-control facilities.
The projects include dredging and building riprap or seawall along the Mahiga Creek and the Butuanon River.
To combat flooding, the City allocated P79.8 million to upgrade existing drainage lines and rehabilitate natural waterways this year.
The budget for drainage increased by 25 percent from last year.
Suico appealed to residents to help clean up drainage lines in their areas and stop throwing trash in the streets to help prevent flood.