Chest-level floods hit Guadalupe; four saved

Four persons, including an elderly couple, were rescued yesterday after being trapped inside a house by floodwaters that rose to chest level  when a river  overflowed in  barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

For the past few days,  daily downpours occuring mostly in the afternoon, have surprised people with their force and instant flooding.

The Basak Pardo Emergency Response Unit rescued the four persons,  including the two senior citizens engaged in “panghihilot” (native massage).

This occurred barely a day after another flooding incident in barangay Quiot in Cebu City.

A dry creek in San Carlos Heights suddenly filled with water after Friday’s downpour.

It triggered a landslide that damaged a concrete fence, which collapsed on top of several homes in sitio Granada, barangay Quiot.

Residents said it was the first time they suffered  severe flooding in their area.

One home was occupied by an elderly couple, their daughter and a grandchild.

Rufino and Lucia Grape, his daughter Agnes and grandson Fresco Gipatalagan were confined at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

The identities of the four persons rescued in sitio Sapangdaku were not immediately available.

The weather bureau in Mactan said the continuous rains was due to an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting the Visayas and Mindanao.

Rains will continue in the coming days, said weather analyst Alice Canasa.  She said the low pressure area spotted in East Mindanao has already faded.

The past week has seen  major streets under water in Metro Cebu, cases of urban flooding that recedes after a few hours.

Traffic stalled for several hours,  while a couple died after being crushed underneath  a boulder that fell on their home in Naga City in last Tuesday’s rains.

In sitio Granada,barangay Quiot,  displaced  families  said they have yet to receive aid from their barangay even as they start recovering whatever belongings they could find.

Lina Barbadillo, 52, said some of them tried to repair their homes or moved in with relatives living nearby.

Norie Lucy Anzano, 26, said she heard a loud burst and saw the concrete fence collapse.

She ran down from the upper floor of her house.

“We were shocked to see the fence break open followed by the floodwaters. I held my child tight and we nearly drowned,” she said.

Anzano said they were saved by a rescue team based in Basak Pardo and were immediately rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center for anti-tetanus shots.

Barbadillo said the elderly Grape couple sustained several injuries while their 30-year-old daughter Agnes suffered the most.

She said the drainage system was clogged, aggravating the flooding.

The victims were watching TV in their two-story house made of light materials when they heard a loud rumble from the back of their house.

“Agnes nearly drowned in the floodwaters. Just imagine how dirty the floodwaters is with all the garbage from the drainage that came unstuck,” Barbadilo said.

She said the dirty kitchen in Agnes’s home was flooded and Agnes grabbed her son.

Barbadillo also said they were still lucky that no one died in the floods because they were awake when it happened.

If the floods had come  come at night, Barbadillo said all of them would have died.

About seven houses and three concrete walls were destroyed.

The rest of the affected residents haven’t evacuated since they have nowhere else to go.

Some of them said one of their barangay officials had a death in the family and was unable to provide assistance.

The Mactan office of the state weather bureau Pagasa said the rains will continue in Cebu this week due to the presence of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting the Visayas and Mindanao area.

Pagasa Mactan weather analyst Alice Canasa said even if the low pressure area spotted in eastern Mindanao already dissipated, the ITCZ’s presence ensures more rainfall for Cebu in the coming days.