Landslides, floods hit Regions 6 and 8

CEBU, Philippines - Heavy rains, brought by typhoon Mario yesterday, have flooded and caused landslides in many areas of the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar and Negros Oriental.

In Ormoc City, of the western part of Leyte, raging waters from a sugarcane plantation uphill cascaded to the lower portion and into Malbasag River, inundating Barangay Alta Vista, an elevated area away from the city proper where six urban poor subdivisions were located.

The downpour started at 12 midnight and went on until 2 a.m., prompting Barangay Chair Myrna Mangle to order an evacuation of people from at least 100 households at Purok Uno of the village. Her appeal for them to evacuate was however rejected, as the people decided to stay in their houses despite the threat of floods.

Other areas of the city, such as Barangay Licuma, were flooded starting at 7 a.m., as water from the drainages spilled over to the streets and isolated this village, 12 kilometers from the city proper, although habal-habal drivers continued to serve commuters.

Barangays San Isidro, Cogon and San Pablo were also flooded, as downpour continued to pound the city, until about 2:57 p.m.

The rains, the heaviest of which was noted at around 11:30 a.m., also caused a 2-hour power outage in some parts of Ormoc City, and the swollen rivers caused an 8-year-old boy, identified as Christian Jade Viñas, to drown at Barangay Valencia.

Mayor Edward Codilla, as early as 7 a.m. had ordered the suspension of classes, of all levels, in the city, while the city rescue teams kept on monitoring the areas of any eventualities.

In Palompon town of Leyte, at 6 a.m., Mayor Ramon Oñate said the town was isolated from all sides after a landslide blocked the highway toward Villaba town. Another alternative route, the Matag-ob-Palompon road was also blocked by another landslide.

Another landslide was reported at the Domonar-Palompon road, while Kilometer 8 of the Isabel-Palompon road was impassable due to flooding at Barangay Tabunok caused by heavy rains since 11:30 p.m. the other day.

Leyte 4th district engineer Lino Gonzales, for his part, said DPWH-8 personnel have started clearing the roads from landslides, and as of yesterday afternoon became passable to motorists.

Even without a typhoon signal, fast craft trips from Ormoc to Cebu were cancelled. The 2Go vessel, with 123 passengers, had trouble docking at the port at around 8:30 am due to big waves, prompting the ship to return to port. It was only allowed to sail back to Cebu but without passengers on board. The Weesam’s return trip to Cebu in the morning was also cancelled. However, the Oceanjet continued with its regular trips.

Coast Guard Station commander Jose Arnel Conopio said Ro-Ro trips at the Isabel Port were also suspended.

According to a report from PIA-Samar’s Nimfa Quirante, Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino, citing heavy rains and floods in the city, suspended the afternoon classes in all levels of both public and private schools.

In Catbalogan City, Mayor Step Uy Tan, in the morning, called up DyMS Aksyon Radyo informing that classes in all levels of all schools in the city have been suspended. Floods in some parts of the city quickly subsided though, except along 7th street, which was noted to be clogged with garbage.

In Negros Oriental, a landslide due to continuous rains caused the collapse of the barangay hall of Puhagan in Valencia town.

An initial report from the Valencia Police disclosed that the eastern portion of the two-story concrete barangay hall gave in at around 10 p.m. last Wednesday. No one was reported injured however.

In Bohol, heavy rains also flooded some parts of the province but there were no reports of landslides. — with reports from Rommel L. Rutor, PIA-8 and Roberto Dejon (FREEMAN)