WHILE it didn’t hit Cebu directly, typhoon “Ramil’s” presence enhanced the southwest monsoon enough to cause big waves to crash into homes in three coastal barangays of Talisay City.
Weather specialist Nedz Saletero of the state weather bureau Pagasa said high tide at 11:46 p.m last Sunday resulted in waves as high as 1.50 to 2.25 meters high (five to seven feet).
The tide lowered to 1.28 meters or four feet high in barangays Dumlog, Poblacion and Casuntingan in Talisay City.
Typhoon “Ramil” was headed northeast of Batanes at 839 km per hour.
“Ramil” left the country at 11 a.m. yesterday.
Saletero said Talisay was hit by a “tidal surge” as Cebu was not in the path of the storm.
Acting Pagasa-Mactan chief Oscar Tabada said Talisay City is prone to storm surges and that residents near the shore must immediately transfer to higher ground.
He told Cebu Daily News that the country can expect four more typhoons before the end of the year.
He said a storm surge, an abnormal rise of water caused by a tropical cyclone, is an oceanic event that is potentially disastrous along coasts with low-lying terrain or across inland water bodies like lakes and rivers.
“The Talisay City government should force residents to leave the area because of the rise of sea waters which is very detrimental,” Tabada said.
Rocks should be set up along the dike in the three barangays to help contain the tide water, he added.
Rising seawater levels is one of several effects of global warming, Tabada said. /Christine Emily L. Pantaleon, Correspondent