An hour-long downpour yesterday afternoon left several Cebu City streets underwater again, but the water receded after the rain stopped.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who inspected flooded sites near the Mahiga Creek, yesterday ordered the Mabolo barangay captain to start clearing out illegal structures in sitio Lahing-Lahing within the three-meter easement.
A backhoe will have to dredge that part of the creek, he said.
“I told the barangay captain that we have to remove everything in the path of a backhoe and we have to do it now. We cannot wait for the summer months to come,” he said.
Back from a weeklong trip in Israel, the mayor said he would review the city’s Drainage Master Plan and see what projects should be prioritized when work resumes on Tuesday.
Rama said he wanted urgent projects in the master plan funded in the next supplemental budget by the City Council.
“Some infrastructure and civil works are needed for this,” he said.
“It (flooding) will always bring you real alarm. Dredging has to be done,” he said.
Other steps cited in the master plan, prepared in 2004-2005, include clearing waterways of illegal structures and increasing the size of drainage culverts.
“You just can’t be too confident. There remains a continuing threat unless we are able to adopt a massive approach to the city’s drainage issues,” said Rama.
The mayor inspected sitio San Isidro II along the Mahiga Creek, where knee-high water flowed into shanties in the Mandaue City side.
He also went to sitio Lahing-Lahing behind the Mabolo Sports Complex, and viewed from the second floor of a friend’s house the flow of floodwater from the Mahiga Creek.
Last Friday, the water reached waist level after a downpour, he was told.
“The water level was also high. Some house built near the river (in sitio Lahing-Lahing) were also flooded,” he told CDN.
Rama said he told Mabolo barangay captain Rey Ompoc yesterday that sitio Lahing-Lahing has to be cleared of illegal structures within the three-meter easement.
Yesterday afternoon’s rain lasted an hour, but was not as heavy as Friday’s downpour, and drained faster.
Mayor Rama said this seasonal street flooding only strengthened his resolve to clear waterways of obstruction, like the Mahiga Creek, and that removing about 30 shanties there actually saved lives.
Rama said that he already spoke with officials of the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) on the need to dredge the mouth of the Mahiga Creek.
Since that part of the creek is near the CPA compound, the government agency should take care of dredging it, he said.