QUEZON CITY (PIA) — Central Luzon was prepared when Typhoon Nika (Toraji) made landfall over Dilasag town in Aurora province on Monday, Nov. 11.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 3 Dir. Amador Corpus, in an interview on PTV 4’ Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Monday, said that before Nika’s landfall at about 8:10 a.m., 69 evacuation centers were already open.
At the time, he said, all the 69 evacuation centers were accommodating a total of 1,283 families, or 3,660 individuals, that were preemptively evacuated before Nika struck.
Corpus noted that the preemptive evacuation supervised by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council 3 (DRRMC3) went smoothly with less resistance from the affected residents due to their experiences with Storm Kristine and Typhoons Leon and Marce.
“Nakapaghanda kami. At ang kagandahan ay marami ang sumusunod sa panawagan sa preemptive evacuation,” Corpus said.
He added that the DRRMC3 had prepositioned enough family food packs (FFPs).
“Just this morning we requested an augmentation of 7,000 FFPs, and good enough, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warehouse in Aurora had enough for the request,” he said.
We are expecting replenishment as another cyclone is threatening to hit Luzon after Nika.
At the moment, there is only one remote barangay in the mountains that remains isolated due to the ongoing construction of a bridge going to the affected community.
So far, all the roads in Aurora are passable.
All response agencies under Region 3 DRRMC are closely coordinating with one another for swift and efficient response, he added.
Almost every day, the DSWD, local government units (LGUs), or all members of the DRRMC conduct situational meetings and briefings for coordination.
Based on the weather bureau’s advisory at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, Nika packed maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 180 kph, traversing northern Luzon on its northwestward track at 25 kph, with its strong to typhoon-force winds extending outwards up to 340 km from its center.
Signal No. 4 was in effect over the northernmost portion of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran), the central and southern portions of Isabela (Dinapigue, San Mariano, San Guillermo, Jones, Echague, Ramon, San Isidro, City of Santiago, Cordon, Roxas, Burgos, Reina Mercedes, Naguilian, Benito Soliven, Gamu, San Manuel, Aurora, San Mateo, Cabatuan, Alicia, Luna, City of Cauayan, Angadanan, Quezon, Mallig, Quirino, Ilagan City, Delfin Albano, and San Agustin).
PAGASA said that the range of wind speeds under this signal is from 118 to 184 kph, with significant to severe threats to life and property. (PIA DMD)
