500 families evacuated in Cebu City

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City government ordered the evacuation of at least 500 families or 2,000 individuals living along the coastal areas of Barangay  Pasil to the community sports center starting Friday noon.

Oscar Tabada, head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said that coastal areas were no longer safe for occupancy because of the moderate to heavy rains Tropical Storm ‘‘Basyang’’ was expected to bring as it made landfall over Siargao island early Friday night.

Basyang was expected to pass in the vicinity of Naga City in Southern Cebu on Saturday.

Tabada said Basyang had sustained winds of  65 kilometers per hour and would bring between 5 mm  and 15 mm of rain.

Flooding is expected in various parts of Cebu City and neighboring areas because of the high tide on Friday night. The sea level is expected at 1.8 meters starting at 11:57 p.m. on Friday.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella convened the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council at 2 p.m. on Friday.

The vice mayor, who is the acting mayor while Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is on vacation, called for the evacuation of the residents in the city’s coastal areas and the activation of the barangay disaster risk reduction council.

“We prioritized the children, especially those below 10 years old. We also discourage people from bringing any belongings so that this will not increase the congestion of the sports center,” said Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta.

Rupinta  asked Labella for packed meals for the 500 families.

Labella has directed city health department officials to make sure that barangay health centers would be open 24 hours.

The City Hall lobby was also being readied to accommodate travellers stranded by the bad weather, he added.