1 dead, many missing after Typhoon Tino submerges houses, cars in Cebu City

At least one person is dead after floods spawned by Typhoon Tino swept away houses and vehicles in Cebu City on Tuesday.

According to a 24 Oras report by Alan Domingo of GMA Regional TV, 12 people are reportedly missing and at least one person has been found dead following the impact of the typhoon.

The typhoon brought heavy rains at around 4 a.m, locals said.  

In a residential subdivision at Barangay Bacayan, several vehicles floated in deep floodwater and later piled on top of one another.

Rescue operations were immediately conducted for residents in the subdivision, who were unable to escape water that rose to as high as 12 feet from water in a nearby swollen creek.

“Nagsimulang tumaas ang tubig, nang tumaas hindi na nila namalayan,” said Bacayan Barangay Disaster Responder Head Efren Lauron.

(Residents did not notice when the water began to rise.)

“Biglang tumaas ang tubig, wala… Hindi namin inakala na tataas ng ganun,” added resident Junjun Declaros.

(Water suddenly rose, and that was it… We didn’t expect it to reach that high.)

According to residents, they never expected this level of flooding since it did not happen in previous typhoons like Odette.

“May namatay, ‘yan ang alam ko pero hindi pa natin ma-confirm. Wala pa tayong matinong communications,” said Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival who conducted an inspectionofthe affected areas.

(Someone died, that is all I know but we haven’t confirmed it yet. We still have no proper communications.)

Meanwhile, residents reported finding the body of an old man among floodwaters at Sitio Tigbao, Barangay Talamban.

“May puno ng sampalok dito, duon siya natagpuan. Ang tubig baha, lampas tao,” said resident Pluto Bonifacio.

(He was found near the Sampaloc tree here. The floodwater reached to above our heads.)

Ten houses were also swept away, and livestock were reportedly drowned by floodwaters in Barangay Tigbao.

The Guadalupe River was in danger of overflowing and is now being monitored as residents of nearby Sitio Sapang were warned to stay alert.

Archival shared that clearing operations are now being conducted in flooded areas, and that assessments are being done to determine the extent of the damage. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News