Sapangdaku river overflows: Heavy rains flood 2 mountain sitios

CEBU, Philippines - A brief but heavy rains in the mountain areas of Cebu City yesterday caused the Sapangdaku River to overflow, flooding two sitios in Barangay Sapangdaku and affecting houses along Guadalupe River in Barangay Guadalupe.

At least 50 houses were affected in the two barangays with 10 families reportedly lost their appliances, fences, poultry animals and other properties.

Sapangdaku barangay captain Lorna Damalerio said residents of sitios Caimitohan Riverside and Mohon were caught by surprise by the raging water, which washed away their belongings shortly past noon.

The ongoing construction of a bridge connecting the two barangays reportedly caused the river to quickly overflow because the water was not able to flow freely to the adjoining stream.

Sapangdaku Councilman Adriano Abella said four people were trapped in their house near the river and were rescued by the city’s fire department personnel.

However, rescuers had to tear down the house to carry out the rescue operation.

The Sapangdaku Elementary School, situated along the riverbanks, was also flooded. Teachers fear that computers, chairs, books and other materials are lost to the flood.

Fortunately, Damalerio said about 50 pupils who were camping in the school grounds were immediately rescued and brought to higher grounds when the water started to rise.

She said angry residents vowed to demand payment for damages from the contractor of the bridge.

It was the first time that flood caused such damage to their properties.

“We already complained that the culverts used were small. They promised but nothing happened,” Damalerio said.

She said she informed the Department of Public Works and Highways about the dilemma, but she was only told to direct their complaints to the contractor.

Abella said what they feared from the start happened yesterday.

He said the culverts that the contractor installed to avoid blocking the river while the construction of a new bridge is in progress did not help prevent the flashflood.

The culverts instead blocked the waterway and aggravated the flooding problem in their barangay, Abella said.

Residents decided to rip down the culverts, which were already partially destroyed by the flashflood, so the water can flow to the Guadalupe River.

This drained the Sapangdaku River, but it caused Guadalupe River to overflow, damaging at least four houses. The occupants were evacuated to safer grounds, but they immediately returned when the water subsided.

Guadalupe Captain Michael Gacasan also blamed the ongoing bridge construction for the immediate rise of water, saying the river overflowed in just minutes.

The P12 million bridge project was funded by the national government and was supposed to be completed last July. It is being constructed just beside the old bridge.

The residents requested for a new bridge because the old bridge is already not fit for the growing traffic going to Sapangdaku where subdivisions are starting to sprout.

Damalerio said the delay in the project’s completion is partly to blame in the incident. But she said the constructor promised to fix the mess.

She said the constructor requested the closure of the old bridge to hasten the construction.

But the residents opposed the idea because detouring to an alternative route will cost them more travel time.

Abella said another problem is the condition of the old bridge, which may have been damaged by the flashflood, adding that it is no longer passable to heavy vehicles.

The other night, three people were injured when a concrete fence collapsed on a house in sitio Granada, Barangay Quiot.

Personnel of the Basak Pardo Emergency Response (BPER) rushed to the area to rescue Lucia Grape, 63, Agnes Grape, 31, and her child Francisco Gipatalagaan, Jr.

The victims sustained bruises when the fence of their neighbor collapsed on their house just after their dinner past 6 p.m.

The victims were brought at the Cebu City Medical Center. — /LPM (FREEMAN)