THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) yesterday raised wind signals in 11 areas in the Visayas and Luzon after “Opong” intensified into a severe tropical storm.
PAGASA said Opong will continue to gain strength and may intensify into a typhoon before its projected landfall in the Bicol region on Friday morning or afternoon.
Opong, the country’s 15th tropical cyclone for this year, entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Tuesday afternoon. It intensified into a tropical storm at 2 a.m. yesterday, and into a severe tropical storm 12 hours later.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Opong was some 670 km east of Surigao City in Surigao del Norte, according to a bulletin issued by PAGASA at 5 p.m. yesterday. Opong was moving west northwestward at 20 kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness up to 115 kph.
Based on the bulletin, placed under Signal No. 2 were Northern Samar and the northern portion of Eastern Samar, while Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, Samar, the rest of Eastern Samar, Biliran, and the northern portion of Leyte were under Signal No. 1.
PAGASA said Opong is expected to bring rains to many parts of Luzon and the Visayas in the coming days, including Metro Manila.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr presided over a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday afternoon to check preparations for Opong.
He assured the public that contingencies are in place and all concerned agencies are ready to respond.
Marcos said the meeting is necessary to determine how to maximize the country’s logistics and resources amid response efforts in areas affected by super typhoon “Nando.”
He said torrential rains from the southwest monsoon is also expected to aggravate the situation in the areas hit by past weather disturbances, especially in Metro Manila and parts of the Calabarzon and Central Luzon regions.
Defense Secretary and NDRRMC chairman Gilberto Teodoro said there is urgent need to prepare for Opong because the ground is already saturated due to Nando and other previous weather disturbances.
Nando exited PAR just last Tuesday after making landfall in Calayan, Cagayan. As of 4 a.m. yesterday, Nando was some 775 km west of Itbayat, Batanes.
“As of now, the inter-agency cell is working very well. The President was satisfied with the extent of preparations and the prepositioning of needed supplies,” he said.
Teodoro said the President was given a situation briefing on the effects of Nando.
“The situation report is that we are servicing in evacuation about 7,000 families in northern Luzon right now,” he said referring to the displaced population.
Teodoro also said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has been asked to make an assessment in areas in Opong’s path.
Social Welfare Secretary reassured the public that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has enough funds and stocks for those affected by Nando and Opong.
He also said the DSWD is deploying mobile kitchens to provide hot meals, especially in evacuation centers, and a mobile command center to ensure continued communication from the affected areas to the central office.
ALERT
Claudio Yucot, director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol, said OCD-Bicol declared a red alert last Tuesday to ensure their readiness.
“We have activated our response clusters… We conducted an inventory of our response assets and they are already ready (for deployment),” he said.
Yucot said OCD-Bicol has sent out advisories to local government units (LGUs) to unclog canals and cut tree branches along major thoroughfares to prevent road blocks, and coordinated with the Land Transportation Office to prevent a buildup of vehicles at the port of Matnog in Sorsogon.
“When there are weather disturbances here in Bicol, there is congestion of vehicles coming from Metro Manila at the port of Matnog,” he said.
“We’re coordinating with LTO to advise vehicles from Metro Manila to refrain from going to Bicol because they will be affected (by Opong) … There will be no sailing policy and they’ll end up getting stranded,” said Yucot.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged LGUs to activate preparedness and mitigation measures due to Opong.
In an advisory, the DILG said Opong will likely prolong adverse weather conditions in areas in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Western Visayas that have been affected by Nando.
“This overlap in affected areas could result in compounding hazards such as heightened risk of flooding, landslides, and overflowing river systems, particularly in communities where the ground is already saturated from previous rains,” the advisory said.
It urged the LGUs to implement “critical preparedness measures” down to the barangay level, especially those that recently experienced extended rainfall, flooding and landslides.
NANDO FATALITIES
Authorities reported five more deaths from a sea mishap involving a fishing boat in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, bringing the death toll from Nando to at least 10 people.
Two other fishermen from the ill-fated fishing boat “Jobhenz” remained missing, said Rueli Rapsing, head of the Cagayan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO).
The Cagayan provincial government initially reported two deaths from the mishap that occurred last Monday morning off Barangay San Vicente.
Rapsing said the fishing boat sought shelter in the area due to inclement weather.
“But the problem is they (fishermen) did not leave the boat. It capsized,” he said.
Five were rescued and two were still missing as of yesterday morning.
The public information office of the Cagayan provincial government named the fatalities as Jimmy Pascual of Cagayan; and Mark Dave Ponteliar, Chris Prodente Sanchez, Russel Loresto, Rommel Moong, Randy Roldan, and George De Los Santos, all of Quezon.
Cagayan earlier reported one death in Calayan town – a barangay watchman who was hit by a fallen tree branch on Monday.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported one death in Agoo, La Union. The victim’s body was retrieved last Tuesday, a day after he slipped and fell on a river.
One died due to a landslide in Tuba, Benguet also on Monday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The incident left seven others injured.
The DILG said Nando has displaced nearly 25,000 individuals as of Tuesday in four regions — Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Cordillera Administrative Region.
Rapsing said the Cagayan government is due to declare the province under a state of calamity because “everyone is affected.”
Some 11,300 families have been affected by Nando in Cagayan as of yesterday morning, according to the PDRRMO. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
