Rockslide befall
major Samar highway due to continuous rain
By
BON JOSEPH N. ASTILLA
December 22, 2017
CALBAYOG CITY – Due to the
rainy season being pretty dominant over the week, the soil surface
on the mountainous sides along national road in the Calbayog-Allen
Road Section, weakened to point of causing a rockslide. The road
stretch of k0701+900-k0701+985 in Brgy. Malayog, Calbayog City was
covered with almost 3,000 cubic meters of soil and rocks rendering
the road unpassable.
The rockslide happened around 7:00 o’clock in the evening of
December 21, 2017, Thursday covering the road with debris of dirt,
mud and mostly big chunks of rocks. Some pieces of these boulders
are even bigger than the trucks and other equipment that are used to
clear the path.
Ongoing clearing operations are already undertaken in the vicinity
since the very next day the disaster occurred. Meanwhile, DPWH Samar
I installed barricades, warning signs and traffic advisory to warn
the public of the condition of the road.
According to District Engr. Alvin A. Ignacio of Samar I, at 11:15 am
today, 22nd of December, the detour road was opened to the 1st batch
of light vehicles. Improvement of this temporary road will continue
and passage of light vehicles is controlled and scheduled. If
motorist are in a hurry and would prefer a convenient travel to
Calbayog from Northern Samar, DPWH-SFDEO advises them to take
Catarman-Calbayog via Lope De Vega Route. The public is warned that
rockfall/landslide on the same site may still occur anytime due to
the prevailing weather in the area. There are still a number of
cracks on the huge rocks/boulder on the slopes.
