Glenda floods many areas in Eastern Visayas

CEBU, Philippines - Nonstop heavy rains all over Eastern Visayas, brought about by typhoon Glenda, have caused many areas in the region to be flooded, compounded by a high tide yesterday morning.

In Ormoc City, Coast Guard officer Arnel Conopio said all passenger boats bound for Cebu, including fast crafts, were allowed to leave port yesterday morning but no passengers were allowed on it, only the crew.

Officially, he said, there were no stranded passengers at the port because some 100 people who wanted to board the 11 a.m. voyage of the M/V Wonderful Stars of the Roble Shipping went home without complaints after they were refunded their fares.

Classes in all levels were also suspended, after Mayor Edward Codilla also declared the half-day suspension of work at the City Hall, except for personnel involved in rescue and relief efforts.

Vice Mayor Toto Locsin Jr. led a rescue team to sitio Noah at Barangay Lilo-an to convince some residents to evacuate. Several low-lying barangays in Ormoc were under water, waist deep in some areas, after the Pagsangaan River overflowed.

In Baybay City, some 50 minutes away from Ormoc, Vice Mayor Michael Cari said residents in at least two coastal sitios in Barangays Sto. Rosario and Sto. Niño were evacuated to safer grounds as a preventive measure.

The Baybay City's terminal and some downtown streets near the port area were flooded knee-high with seawater, after huge waves brought about by the strong winds coupled with high tide, overflowed the sea wall. Cari added the drainages have also overflowed, both those leading to the rivers and seas, adding that the strong waves subsided when low tide came.

Updates posted at the local Facebook page of the Philippine Information Agency indicated that other areas in the region were experiencing the same.

Rodrigo Victoria of Biliran posted that "several houses at sitio Tagumpay in Brgy. Sto. Niño, Naval, Biliran were destroyed by big waves."  Biliran is an island-province where all towns are coastal.

The PIA in Leyte Province, on the other hand, posted at around 9 a.m. yesterday: "Per info from Leyte II Engineering District," the La Paz-Javier-Bito road was hardly passable to light vehicles due to flooding at Brgy. Piliway in La Paz town; the Jaro-Dagami-Burauen-La Paz road at Km. 950 at Brgy. Tingib in Pastrana, was not also passable after a spillway overflowed. A maintenance crew was reportedly on standby to assist motorists cross the particular portion."

The Leyte 3rd Engineering District reported that the highway along Calubian-Tabango-Villaba-Palompon was not passable due to a 1-foot high overflow. The water was deeper at the Sto. Rosario-Villaba road, which reached around 1-meter high.

In Tacloban City, Mayor Alfred Romualdez also suspended classes in all levels. City Hall employees "may not report for office," he said, except for department heads and those involved in the emergency response team.