NINE out of the 27 barangays in Mandaue City experienced heavy flooding following a four-hour downpour on Sunday evening, June 23, 2024.
Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) head Buddy Ybañez said 80 families living in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia had to evacuate as waist-deep flood entered their homes.
Meanwhile, in Cebu City, disaster personnel noted that the waterway linking the Subangdaku and Mahiga rivers had constricted river flow during heavy rainfall, leading to flooding in Sitio Magtalisay, Mabolo, on Sunday evening.
In Lapu-Lapu City, Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan instructed contractors to speed up ongoing road drainage projects in barangays Gun-ob and Basak to mitigate flooding in the area.
Mandaue City
Ybañez, in an interview on Monday, said 80 families from Barangay Ibabao-Estancia displaced by the flood are currently taking shelter at the barangay’s evacuation center.
Flooding also occurred in sitios of barangays Banilad, Cambaro, Looc, Mantuyong, Opao, Subangdako, Tipolo and Umapad.
Although these areas experienced significant flooding, no fatalities have been reported.
Hyll Retuya, assistant department head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency (Team) of the City, said they deployed trucks to help motorcycles that cannot cross the flooded areas.
Team identified the A.S. Fortuna Rolling Hills area and LH Prime area, Tipolo, near Isla De Palma-1st bridge in Looc as the most impassable routes on Sunday.
In response to the recurring flooding, the City has planned infrastructure projects to prevent future flooding, but while waiting for these to be implemented, it has initiated declogging, suction, and cleaning of canals and drainage systems.
However, Ybañez emphasized that these efforts should be complemented by the public’s responsibility in flood prevention.
“The common cause of the flooding is the accumulation of trash in the drainages. Although the city has cleaned and desilted the drainages, people’s negligence remains an issue,” Ybañez said.
Cebu City
Rainfall on Sunday, starting around 8 p.m. and lasting until nearly midnight, caused flooding in Sitio Magtalisay, in Mabolo, Cebu City, as well as in the streets of T. Padilla, Zulueta, Bonifacio and Tagunol.
Harold Alcontin, head of Cebu City DRRMO, in a phone interview, said fortunately, no families in the city had to be evacuated.
Alcontin said the cause of the flooding at Sitio Magtalisay, in Barangay Mabolo was the Y section of Mahiga Creek and Subangdaku River, which constricted the waterway to flow outwards towards the ocean.
He also attributed the narrowing of the waterway to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) sheet piling project, intended to fortify rivers.
Alcontin added that from 9 a.m. on Sunday, June 23, up to the same time on Monday, 53 millimeters of rainfall was recorded.
Alcontin expressed that the rainfall recorded that day was more than three times the average amount usually recorded.
Alcontin said the flood started to subside at around 10 p.m.
Nevertheless, Alcontin assured that the area is being monitored by assigning personnel to watch the river.
In a press conference with Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia on Monday at Cebu City Hall, Garcia said that he called a meeting with the Task Force Gubat sa Baha, Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), Department of Public Services, DPWH, regarding their response for the rainy season.
He then called on the public to do their share by properly segregating waste.
Lapu-Lapu City
Meanwhile, during an interview at Barangay Gun-ob’s Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City on Monday, Mayor Chan said they are currently addressing flood concerns in barangays Basak and Gun-ob.
Using the amphibious excavators borrowed from DPWH 7, they cleaned and excavated areas near the outfall in Sitio Tangke Basak, Barangay Basak.
Chan also instructed contractors to expedite ongoing drainage projects in the city to mitigate flooding and traffic problems.
He added that they are implementing one-way routes in Gun-ob and at the opening of the Pakpakan Road in Barangay Basak to provide new alternatives to address traffic problems. / CAV, JPS, DPC