Rain, and more rain
Rain fell again yesterday, which means that we are really well into the rainy season whose onset Pagasa officially declared a month ago. Not only that. Pagasa projected that 9 to 10 typhoons would hit the country from June to November this year. More typhoons are also expected to hit the country this year compared to last year (a mild El Niño hit the country last year).
We already know what this means. Too much rainfall causes floods. This is a concern especially in most local government units in Metro Cebu where the drainage systems are inadequate or problematic. Flooding not only causes inconvenience but also poses danger on the lives of those living near waterways.
In hilly terrains, constant rain loosens the soil and could cause landslides, posing danger to residents and rendering roads impassable. On the issue of roads, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has admitted that bad weather has caused delays in the construction of the P700-million underpass along Natalio Bacalso Ave., specifically in Mambaling.
It is not only the underpass project that has been affected by the rain, of course, considering that many infrastructure projects were started only recently or are in a crucial phase of their construction. Which brings us to a point that has been raised before. Why are projects like the underpass in Mambaling being implemented during the rainy season and when classes have started?
Meanwhile, how are local government units coping with or preparing for the problems caused by the rainy season and by the projected 9 to 10 typhoons that could visit us this year? We were fortunate that the weather disturbances that visited the country since the onset of the rainy season were either weak or did not hit us directly. But some of those typhoons may not veer away from us.
Nearly four years after Yolanda, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country, devastated parts of the Visayas, including Cebu’s northern tip, officials of local government units seemed to have loosened up. Two Cebuano phrases aptly describe the thinking behind this: “motulo ra bitaw na kun mouwan” and “unya ra manguros inighuman sa kilat.”