CEBU CITY – It only took less than an hour of heavy rain to flood Metro Cebu that forced hundreds of families to flee their homes on Friday night, Aug. 15.
In Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City, a 24-year-old man died after he was swept away by floodwater.
Authorities said Jeremy Bolingket and two minors tried to save a taxi from being swept away. The attempt to save the taxi ended in tragedy after the man was swept away by raging flood.
Bolingket’s body was recovered in the same barangay.
The Mandaue Health Office and City Social Welfare Services reported that 1,246 residents from various barangays were evacuated due to heavy flooding.
In Cebu City, almost 300 families were evacuated when water rose chest-deep.
The Cebu City Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) said a family of five was displaced when their house was destroyed at the height of the heavy flooding.
DSWS chief Portia Basmayor said 85 families in Sitio Riverside Barangay Pahina Central were evacuated and another 149 families in Sitio Tumoy in the same barangay also transferred to an evacuation center.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration-Mactan, 23 millimeters of rainfall in just 48 minutes was recorded when heavy rains poured between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m. on Friday.
The amount of rain poured at the time was equivalent to nine Olympic-size swimming pools of water per square kilometer, the State weather bureau said.