‘Jolina’ floods parts of metro

Heavy rains spawned by tropical depression Jolina floods parts of downtown Cebu City, other areas, forcing evacuations and leaving commuters stranded.

Several roads in Cebu City were flooded during hours of a heavy downpour late Thursday night until past midnight.

Streets in downtown Cebu City, such as Colon, Magallanes, Manalili, Sanciangko, Junquera, New Imus Road, P. del Rosario and parts of N. Bacalso Ave., among others, were flooded.

Several individuals from Barangay Sambag 2 had to be rescued by the disaster team from the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Knee-deep flood was experienced by residents in these areas, prompting them to evacuate.

Some commuters were also stranded due to flood waters.

The heavy rains that caused flooding in some parts of Metro Cebu were due to thunderstorms aggravated by tropical depression Jolina, said an official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Ser- vices Administration (Pagasa).

Engr. Al Quiblat, Pagasa Cebu weather chief, told SunStar Cebu that around 41 millimeters of rain fell on Metro Cebu from 12:30 a.m. to 1:10 a.m. yesterday.

Pagasa also recorded around 59.7 mm of rainfall from 9 a.m. last Thursday to 4 a.m. yesterday, Quiblat said.

But Quiblat said the amount of rainfall recorded from Thursday to Friday morning has not matched the highest rainfall recorded for this year.

Last January, heavy rains carrying around 77mm of rainwater poured over Metro Cebu in just two hours.

Quiblat said rainfall exceeding 25mm in two hours is considered an “extreme rainfall event” which carries a call for the public to prepare for possible flooding.

While Jolina is far from the Visayas, it could aggravate thunderstorms that are currently affecting Cebu.

He said more thunderstorms are expected in Cebu especially that the entire province and other areas in the Visayas are experiencing “habagat” or northeastern monsoon winds.

Asked on his plans about the flooding, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said there are several drainage projects that are ongoing and will be implemented in the city.

However, he said solving the problem on flooding should not only depend on drainage projects.

Osmeña said there should be a move first to clean up the existing drainage system.

“We have several drainage projects, but let’s see first how we can clean up our drainage and how to keep it clean so we don’t have to spend big on drainage later on. The moment we collect our garbage from drainage and canals maybe the amount of drainage we would need to build would be less, I will promise that,” he said.