Rains swamp Cebu; 7 killed in floods

CEBU CITY — Tropical Depression “Crising” dumped an equivalent of 350,000 drums of rain per square km for four hours on Cebu on Sunday, triggering floods that killed at least seven persons in northern towns.

The rains also caused the collapse of a portion of a stage built for the reenactment of the resurrection of Christ, injuring at least 10 people in a southern town. Rains also flooded many parts of Cebu City.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) said the fatalities were swept by floodwaters in Carmen town south of Cebu City and Danao City in northern Cebu on Sunday.

In Carmen, the fatalities were identified as Rowena Sencio, 38, and her children Jade, 13, and Ivan, 11; Arcenia Mag-asin Laping, 57; Vience Ian Durano, 1 year and 10 months and Zobella Gica, 46.

In Danao, the dead was identified as Benyang Manulat, 52, who drowned in the flood.

The bodies of Sencio and her children were carried by floodwaters to the village of Dawis Norte, at least 2 km from where they lived in the village of Duwalog, also in Carmen, according to Julius Regner, PDRRMC spokesperson.

Two other persons were reported missing, but Regner had no details.

Romina Marasigan, spokesperson of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said houses of victims were washed away by floods.

Although “Crising” had been downgraded to a low pressure area, the weather disturbance dumped 68.3 mm of rain, equivalent to 350,000 drums of water per square kilometer per hour from 1:54 a.m. to 5:06 a.m. on Sunday.

The volume of rain was more than the normal for the month of April which was only 50 mm, said weather forecaster Nids Soletrero of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) station on Mactan Island, Cebu.

Meo Aguirre, Pagasa weather specialist also in Mactan, said this was the first time in many years that it rained in Cebu on Easter Sunday mainly due to “Crising.”

A portion of a stage built for the annual “Sugat Kabanhawan,” a reenactment of the Resurrection in the southern town of Minglanilla, collapsed and injured 10 persons. Nine of the injured had been brought to the Minglanilla District Hospital and another to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

Supt. Dexter Calacar, Minglanilla police chief, said the injured were spectators who rushed to the stage to take shelter from the rains. The stage, made of steel frames, was built on the quadrangle of the Minglanilla Central School. —WITH JOEY GABIETA AND PHILIP TUBEZA