22 kids swept away by floods

CEBU, Philippines - In what can only be described as a miracle, 22 children survived being swept by rampaging floodwaters spawned by yesterday afternoon’s sudden torrential rains.

Except for minor injuries, the worst that the 22 children suffered were frayed nerves.

Many of the children belonged to either of three families from Maghaway, Talisay City, and the floods caught them either swimming or doing the laundry at the Pinggan River at the boundary between Talisay and the town of MInglanilla.

Adults who were alerted by sudden shouts of “baha” (flood) managed to scramble to the river, running alongside the rushing waters to throw vines dangling from the riverbanks toward the stricken children before they could be swept much farther away.

Those of the children who were alert enough at the first sign of danger managed to scramble up some huge boulders dotting the riverbanks and held on for dear life before they could be rescued.

As the waters of the Pinggan River rose, word quickly swept downstream that several children had been swept away, prompting police and emergency personnel from both Talisay and Minglanilla to swing into action.

They quickly lined the banks of the river near where it empties into the sea, ready to pluck anyone who may be swept by the floods.

Their worst fears happily were not realized as they got word by around 4 p.m. that all 22 children swept by the floods have all been rescued and accounted for.

Edwin Cabatas, the barangay captain of Maghaway, said most of the children belonged to either the Ababa, the Bonghanoy, and the Lecera families, although a couple more kids belonged to unrelated families.

One girl, aged 14, told DYAB radio that while the children were either bathing or doing the laundry, a shout went up that rampaging floodwaters were headed straight at them from upriver.

The girl said they lost no time in trying to get out of harm’s way but that the rampaging headwaters of the flood were too swift and caught many of them still in the river.

Luckily, she said, many of them were able to make it to the huge boulders or were quickly pulled out of the water by adults. She named a certain Virgilio as being one of those who threw vines for them to grab.

Lino Ong, a councilman from nearby barangay Linao, said heavy rains in the mountains normally cause the river to swell. He recalled an incident 10 years ago when five people perished in a flood on the same river.

Meanwhile, the Pagasa blamed the heavy rains on the Intertropical Convergence Zone hovering over the Visayas and a low pressure area east of Mindanao.

Bolivar Artiaga, a weather observer at Pagasa, said while the rainy season is yet to officially start by the first week of May, Cebu may start seeing more rainy days instead of sunny ones because of the rain-inducing weather conditions.

He said that Cebu may experience a few more rainy days before the sunny days take over briefly. And then it will swing back to rainy days ones more as the wet season kicks in by May.

Artiaga explained the floods that swept the children in Talisay occurred because of the geographical contours of the area. He said similar occurrences of floods were experienced in the mountain areas of Consolacion and Liloan where much of heavy rain clouds hovered and concentrated.

By noon yesterday, Pagasa already noted the dark cloud formations over most of Metro Cebu, stretching from Liloan in the north, down to Minglanilla in the south. By 1 p.m. the clouds suddenly burst into torrential rains.

As they did, much of the Metro went under water, including many areas in the city. Nearly knee-deep waters were noted in many city streets. - /JST (THE FREEMAN)